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IBRARY 

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THE  MILLENNIAL  HOPE 

A  PHASE  OF  WAR-TIME  THINKING 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  PRESS 
CHICAGO.  ILLINOIS 


THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK 

THE  J.  K.  GILL  COMPANY 

PORTLAND,  ORE80N 

THE  CUNNINGHAM,  CURTISS  &  WELCH  COMPANY 

LOS  ANGELES 

THE  CAMBRIDGE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

LONDON  AND  EDIKBUBeH 

THE  MARUZEN-KABUSHIEI-KAISHA 

TOKTO,  OSAKA,    KYOTO,   FUKUOKA,   SBNDAl 

THE  MISSION  BOOK  COMPANY 

SHANSHAI 


THE 
MILLENNIAL  HOPE 

A  PHASE  OF  WAR-TIME  THINKING 


By 
Shirley  Jackson  Case 

Professor  of  Early  Church  History  and  Netv  Testament 
Interpretation  in  the  Uni-versity  of  Chicago 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  PRESS 
CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 


LOAN  STACK 


Copyright  1918  By 
The  University  of  Chicago 


All  Rights  Reserved 


Published  January  1918 
Second  Impression  March  1918 


Composed  and  Printed  By 

The  University  of  Chicago  Press 

Chicago,  Illinois,  U.S.A. 


Co 


PREFACE 

The  primary  purpose  of  this  book  is  to  answer 
a  single  question:  Are  the  ills  of  society  to  be 
righted  by  an  early  and  sudden  destruction 
of  the  present  world,  or  is  permanent  relief 
to  be  secured  only  by  a  gradual  process  of 
strenuous  endeavor  covering  a  long  period  of 
years  ? 

The  stirring  events  of  recent  times  have 
given  new  point  to  this  question.  Vigorous 
propagandists  have  been  urging  belief  in  the 
speedy  end  of  the  world  and  the  hopelessness  of 
any  remedial  measures  for  effecting  permanent 
improvement  in  present  conditions.  In  the 
name  of  religion,  it  is  maintained  that  human 
efforts  to  make  the  present  world  a  safer 
and  better  place  in  which  to  live  are  wholly 
misguided.  On  the  contrary,  God  is  said 
to  will  that  conditions  shall  grow  con- 
stantly worse  as  the  hour  of  impending  doom 
approaches. 

At  the  present  time  this  pessimistic  view  of 
the  world  is  especially  pernicious.     In  principle 


003 


vi  Preface 

it  strikes  at  the  very  heart  of  all  democratic 
ideals.  According  to  its  fundamental  teaching, 
God  is  regarded  as  an  almighty  potentate  who 
has  foreordained  to  failure  all  the  efforts  of  men 
to  establish  improved  forms  of  government. 
For  one  who  holds  consistently  to  this  opinion 
it  is  nonsense  to  talk  of  human  responsibility 
for  the  betterment  of  society.  This  type  of 
teaching,  which  is  being  vigorously  inculcated 
in  many  circles,  readily  plays  into  the  hands  of 
all  enemies  of  social  and  political  reform.  By 
persuading  men  that  the  rapid  deterioration 
and  early  destruction  of  the  present  world  are 
determined  upon  by  divine  decree,  the  enemy  of 
reform  has  a  mighty  instrument  for  strangling 
the  citizen's  sense  of  civic  duty.  This  is 
equally  true  whether  the  call  to  service  is 
merely  local  or  whether  it  is  national  and  inter- 
national. 

The  following  pages  are  designed  to  exhibit 
the  fallacious  and  harmful  character  of  present- 
day  teaching  regarding  the  imminent  end  of  the 
world.  The  method  of  treatment  is  historical. 
Different  beliefs  of  this  general  type  current 
among  the  ancients  are  examined  in  order  to 
discover  the  specific  circumstances  which  called 
them  into  being  and   their  utter  futility  as 


Preface  vii 

shown  by  subsequent  events.  When  viewed  in 
this  historical  setting,  the  absurdity  of  attempt- 
ing to  solve  modern  problems  in  a  similarly 
fanciful  way  is  readily  perceived. 


Shirley  Jackson  Case 


University  of  Chicago 
December  20,  191 7 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Gentile  Hopes i 

II.  Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes 48 

III.  Early  Christian  Hopes 107 

IV.  Later  Christian  Hopes 155 

V.  Modern  Estimate  of  Millennial  Hopes      .  206 

Selected  Bibliography 242 

Index .  249 


IX 


CHAPTER  I 

GENTILE  HOPES 

.What  is  to  be  the  ultimate  destiny  of  the 
present  world?  This  question  has  always 
made  a  strong  appeal  to  the  popular  imagina- 
tion. This  appeal  has  been  especially  powerful 
at  those  periods  in  history  when  shocking 
calamities  have  overtaken  mankind.  Some- 
times the  shock  has  been  occasioned  by  dreadful 
disasters  in  nature,  such  as  devastating  floods, 
furious  storms,  or  terrifying  earthquakes.  At 
other  times  the  imagination  has  been  fired  by 
great  social  upheavals  often  accompanied  by 
bloody  civil  wars  or  bitter  religious  persecutions. 
Again,  as  in  more  recent  times,  attention  has 
been  arrested  by  deadly  international  conflicts 
which  seemed  to  threaten  with  destruction  the 
very  foundations  of  all  civilization. 

In  the  presence  of  dire  calamities  many 
persons  lose  faith  in  the  permanence  of  the 
present  world.  Horrible  outbreaks  of  distress 
are  taken  to  be  symptomatic  of  an  incurable 
malady  which  has  fastened  its  deadly  grip  upon 


2  The  Millennial  Hope 

the  whole  cosmic  order.  Since  the  disease 
seems  too  deep-seated  to  be  eradicated  by 
remedial  measures,  its  progress  can  be  stayed 
only  by  destroying  the  object  upon  which  it 
preys.  The  only  hope  for  a  final  triumph  over 
evil  is  thought  to  lie  in  the  complete  dissolution 
of  the  present  world  and  the  re-establishment 
of  a  new  world  free  from  all  those  calamitous 
possibilities  inherent  in  the  present  order  of 
things. 

Within  Christianity  belief  in  the  temporary 
character  of  the  present  age  early  assumed  a 
form  known  as  the  millennial  hope.  According 
to  this  hope,  in  the  more  or  less  distant  future 
the  course  of  human  history  is  to  be  suddenly 
halted  by  divine  intervention,  when  all  evil  will 
be  abolished  and  the  earth  completely  reno- 
vated. Then  Christ  will  establish  upon  earth 
a  new  kingdom  of  blessedness  to  endure  one 
thousand  years;  hence  the  designation  "millen- 
nial" hope. 

Is  the  millennial  type  of  speculation  a  valid 
hope  for  modern  times?  In  recent  years  the 
distresses  incident  to  a  world-war  have  given 
this  question  new  importance.  Instead  of 
affirming  that  modern  men  are  in  duty  bound 
to  construct  a  new  international  order  more 


Gentile  Hopes  3 

carefully  safeguarded  against  the  possibility  of 
future  disaster,  many  persons  revive  ancient 
millennial  expectations  and  fall  back  upon  a 
belief  that  the  evils  of  the  present  world  will 
shortly  be  eliminated  by  the  sudden  inter- 
vention of  Deity.  To  test  the  validity  of  this 
belief  is  the  main  purpose  of  the  present  inquiry. 
The  method  of  procedure  will  be  to  sketch  the 
origins  of  the  millennial  type  of  hope,  to  note  the 
function  which  it  has  served  at  different  times  in 
the  past,  and  in  the  light  of  its  history  to  esti- 
mate its  value  as  a  modern  program  for  the 
renovation  of  the  world. 


Taken  in  the  large.  Christian  millenarianism 
is  not  an  isolated  phenomenon.  While  it  shows 
certain  very  distinctive  characteristics,  the  main 
problem  which  it  treats  and  the  general  type  of 
solution  which  it  proposes  are  by  no  means 
novel.  The  presence  of  evil  powers  in  the  world 
has  been  recognized  by  practically  all  peoples 
even  in  very  elementary  stages  of  cultural  devel- 
opment, and  the  hope  of  an  ultimate  deliverance 
to  be  effected  through  a  sudden  dissolution  of 
the  present  order  is  not  at  all  unusual  in  the 
history  of  human  thinking. 


4  The  Millennial  Hope 

The  ancients  held  definite  though  varying 
views  regarding  the  meaning  and  outcome  of 
humanity's  conflict  with  a  hostile  world. 
Mythology  often  depicted  the  emergence  of  an 
orderly  universe  from  chaos  as  the  result  of  a 
mighty  battle  between  warring  deities.  These 
myths  reflected  in  heightened  form  man's  own 
experiences  in  his  eflorts  to  escape  from  or  to 
conquer  the  ruthless  powers  of  nature.  He 
trembled  when  they  displayed  their  fury  in  the 
destructive  hurricane,  in  the  blinding  lightning, 
in  the  deafening  thunder,  in  the  terrifying  earth- 
quake, or  in  the  devastating  flood.  Even  in  the 
more  ordinary  experiences  of  life  he  often  be- 
lieved himself  to  be  the  victim  of  malevolent 
powers.  Frequently  his  very  existence — to  say 
nothing  of  his  efforts  to  obtain  the  luxuries  of 
life — seemed  to  be  threatened  by  visible  and 
invisible  foes. 

The  issue  of  life's  conflicts  was  also  variously 
conceived,  but  the  hope  of  some  sort  of  triumph 
for  humanity  was  practically  universal.  Ulti- 
mate victory  was  commonly  pictured  as  the 
work  of  beneficent  deities  who  intervened  in 
some  unusual  manner  to  rescue  men  from  their 
distresses.  Sometimes  final  deliverance  was 
predicted   simply  for   the  individual   soul — a 


Gentile  Hopes  5 

deliverance  to  be  realized  in  a  blessed  abode 
beyond  the  grave.  At  other  times  a  great  hero 
was  brought  upon  the  scene  to  confer  present 
blessings  upon  humanity,  possibly  also  pointing 
the  way  to  a  happier  destiny  in  the  life  to  come. 
Still  bolder  thinkers  prophesied  the  complete 
destruction  of  all  evils  and  the  final  establish- 
ment of  a  new  and  ideal  state  of  existence  for 
restored  humanity  upon  a  renovated  earth. 
Amid  all  these  variations  in  detail  there  runs 
the  same  scarlet  thread  of  hope,  more  or  less 
clearly  discernible  everywhere  in  the  ancient 
world. 

The  idea  of  a  divine  deliverance  was  so 
prominent  in  the  surroundings  of  the  early 
Christians,  and  their  own  daily  experiences 
often  proved  so  very  distressing,  that  they  also 
were  impelled  to  speculate  about  the  end  of  the 
world.  In  describing  this  event  they  employed 
imagery  already  current,  adding  to  it  certain 
new  features  designed  to  remedy  weaknesses  in 
the  program  of  their  rivals  and  to  give  greater 
assurances  of  fulfilment  to  the  distinctively 
Christian  teaching  upon  this  subject.  The  very 
attempt  to  cope  with  a  familiar  problem,  and 
the  effort  to  solve  it  by  offering  a  rival  program 
of  the  current  type,  resulted  in  considerable 


6  The  Millennial  Hope 

similarity  between  the  views  of  Christians  and 
those  of  their  contemporaries. 

Familiarity  with  the  world  of  the  early  Chris- 
tians discloses,  not  only  the  sources  of  much  of 
their  millennial  imagery,  but  also  the  secret  of 
its  effectiveness.  This  type  of  teaching  origi- 
nally received  powerful  impetus  from  specific 
historical  circumstances,  a  knowledge  of  which 
is  absolutely  essential  to  an  understanding  of  its 
full  meaning  and  value  in  the  early  days  of  the 
Christian  movement.  In  later  times  readers  of 
the  Book  of  Revelation,  for  example,  often 
found  themselves  unable  to  grasp  the  exact 
meaning  of  the  author  or  to  appreciate  the  real 
service  which  he  originally  rendered  his  con- 
temporaries. This  failure  was  largely  due  to 
neglect  of  the  actual  historical  conditions  which 
called  forth  the  book  and  which  make  perfectly 
intelligible  both  its  meaning  and  its  value  to  the 
particular  groups  of  early  Christians  whose 
specific  needs  prompted  its  composition.  Simi- 
larly, in  interpreting  millenarianism  at  succes- 
sive periods  in  the  history  of  Christianity, 
account  should  always  be  taken  of  the  peculiar 
circumstance  which  revived  these  daring  flights 
of  the  pious  imagination;  and  their  worth  can 
be  appraised  only  in  relation  to  contemporary 


Gentile  Hopes  7 

conditions.  When  removed  from  their  original 
environment  and  injected  into  an  alien  setting, 
millennial  notions  often  become  meaningless  or 
even  absurd. 

For  the  content  of  their  millennial  hope  the 
early  Christians  were  indebted  most  imme- 
diately to  the  Jews,  but  Jewish  hopes  had  been 
gradually  evolving  for  centuries  while  the  He- 
brews were  in  close  contact  with  a  varied  gentile 
environment.  Moreover,  Christian  hopes  con- 
tinued to  expand  and  function  anew  as  the  new 
religion  became  an  independent  movement 
upon  gentile  soil.  Hence  acquaintance  with 
Eg3^tian,  Babylonian,  Persian,  Greek,  and 
Roman  views  regarding  the  ultimate  outcome 
of  humanity's  struggle  with  a  hostile  world 
is  essential  for  the  correct  interpretation  of 
both  Jewish  and  Christian  teaching  on  this 
subject. 

While  occasionally  it  may  become  apparent 
that  earlier  gentile  hopes  supplied  the  stimulus 
or  the  model  for  similar  Jewish  or  Christian 
beliefs,  it  is  of  much  greater  importance  to 
understand  the  general  conditions  in  ancient 
times  which  made  possible  the  millennial  type 
of  speculation  and  gave  it  significance  for  the 
ancients.     If  in  modern  times  those  conditions 


8  The  Millennial  Hope 

no  longer  prevail,  it  is  not  surprising  that  millen- 
nial expectations  seem  to  lose  their  meaning. 
But  it  is  all  the  more  necessary  that  the  present- 
day  student  make  himself  familiar  with  the 
circumstances  of  the  ancients  in  order  that  he 
may  more  fully  and  more  correctly  appreciate 
both  the  origin  and  the  functional  significance 
of  Jewish  as  well  as  Christian  hopes  of  the 
millennial  type  in  ancient  times. 

II 

As  life  in  the  fertile  Nile  Valley  was  less 
strenuous  than  in  most  of  the  lands  about  the 
Mediterranean,  the  Egyptians  took  a  somewhat 
more  optimistic  view  of  the  universe  than  did 
their  Asiatic  and  European  neighbors.  In  the 
primitive  nature-myths  of  Egypt  the  notion  of 
struggle  is  not  so  prominent  as  in  the  mythol- 
ogies of  Babylonia,  Persia,  or  Greece;  nor  does 
the  idea  of  an  ultimate  destruction  of  the  world 
seem  to  have  been  native  to  Egyptian  thinking. 
Nevertheless,  in  historical  times  both  the  bur- 
den of  life's  ills  and  the  need  of  divine  relief  were 
recognized.  In  the  presence  of  deplorable  social 
conditions  resulting  from  defective  government, 
an  early  Egyptian  prophet  declares  his  faith  in 
the  advent  of  a  new  ruler  who  will  save  the 


Gentile  Hopes  9 

people  from  their  distresses.  At  present  nor- 
mal industrial  and  commercial  activities  have 
ceased,  justice  has  disappeared,  blood  is  every- 
where, and  the  people  wander  about  like  shep- 
herdless  sheep;  but  the  prophet  looks  for  the 
coming  of  a  brighter  day  when  a  deliverer  will 
arise  who  will  rule  justly  and  bring  '^cooling  to 
the  flame."  When  a  beneficent  prince  appears 
who  brings  these  hopes  to  fulfilment,  he  is  hailed 
as  a  mediator  of  divine  help.  Merneptah,  for 
example,  is  called  the  divinely  appointed  pro- 
tector of  Egypt  who  bestows  upon  the  people  in 
an  especial  measure  the  favor  of  the  great  sun- 
god  Re.  Now  there  is  universal  rejoicing  in  the 
land,  all  fear  of  enemies  has  been  removed, 
lamentation  has  vanished,  the  desolated  towns 
are  repopulated,  and  the  husbandman  enjoys 
unmolested  the  fruits  of  his  toil.'' 

Religion  also  inculcated  the  idea  of  a  struggle 
and  of  a  victory  to  be  accomplished  through 
divine  assistance.  This  notion  was  especially 
prominent  in  the  popular  Isis-Osiris  cult  which 
had  a  wide  vogue,  not  only  in  Egypt  itself,  but 
all  about  the  Mediterranean  previous  to,  and 
contemporary  with,  the  rise  of  Christianity. 
The  myths  of  the  cult  tell  of  a  fierce  conflict 

^  J.  H.  Breasted,  Ancient  Records  of  Egypt,  III,  263. 


lo  The  Millennial  Hope 

between  Osiris,  the  brother-husband  of  Isis,  and 
a  mighty  foe  who  slays  Osiris.  But  a  restora- 
tion to  Hfe  is  accomplished  by  the  efforts  of  Isis, 
and  the  slayer  of  Osiris  is  finally  conquered. 
The  myth  really  depicts  the  successful  struggle 
of  man  against  his  great  enemy  death,  which  is 
now  no  longer  to  be  feared,  since  the  heroic 
divinities,  Isis  and  Osiris,  have  conquered  this 
foe  and  provided  through  the  institution  of  their 
cult  a  sure  victory  for  mortals.  While  this 
scheme  of  salvation  did  not  include  an  ultimate 
destruction  of  the  world,  where  death  reigned, 
it  did  offer  to  every  individual  the  hope  of  a 
blessed  immortality  in  a  new  world  beyond  the 
grave. 

Ill 

Babylonian  mythology  depicts  a  primitive 
struggle  between  contending  powers  personify- 
ing the  principles  of  chaos  and  order.  The 
triumph  of  the  latter  under  the  leadership  of  the 
god  Marduk  has  resulted  in  the  creation  of 
the  world  and  the  appearance  of  mankind  upon 
the  earth.  Marduk  has  conquered  the  powers 
of  chaos,  ordered  the  course  of  the  stars,  given 
shape  to  heaven  and  earth,  bestowed  upon  the 
world  fertility  and  prosperity,  and  now  extends 
his  mercy  and  compassion  toward  repentant 


Gentile  Hopes  ii 

sinners.  According  to  this  legend  a  new  and 
ideal  order  of  things  to  endure  forever  has  now 
been  inaugurated.  Even  before  beginning  his 
triumphant  onslaught  upon  the  powers  of  chaos 
Marduk  is  hailed  by  his  fellow-gods  as  savior, 
lord,  and  eternal  sovereign  of  the  whole  uni- 
verse : 

O  Marduk,  thou  art  our  avenger. 

We  give  thee  sovereignty  over  the  entire  universe. 

Thou   shalt   preside   in   the   assembly,   thy   word   is 

supreme. 
May  thy  weapon  never  become  blunt;   may  it  strike 

down  the  foe! 
O  lord,  spare  the  life  of  him  who  trusts  in  thee, 
And  pour  out  the  life  of  the  god  who  seized  hold  of  evil.^ 

On  the  other  hand,  in  the  Babylonian  story  of 
the  Deluge,  man  himself  is  made  to  participate 
in  the  struggle  incident  to  the  changing  order  of 
things.  Looking  down  upon  the  world,  particu- 
larly upon  the  metropolis  Surippak  on  the  shores 
of  the  Euphrates,  the  gods  perceived  that 
civilization  had  become  effete  and  so  they 
resolved  to  send  a  flood.  All  life  would  have 
perished  had  not  one  prudent  man,  Utnapish- 
tim,  been  instructed  to  build  a  boat  in  which  he 

^  Morris  Jastrow,  Jr.,  in  Hastings'  Dictionary  of  the  Bible, 
extra  vol.,  p.  571. 


12  The  Millennial  Hope 

saved  himself,  his  family,  and  all  kinds  of  living 
creatures.  As  a  reward  for  his  service  he  and 
his  wife  were  transformed  into  divine  beings  and 
given  a  special  dwelling-place  in  a  distant  land 
"at  the  mouth  of  the  streams" — apparently  a 
hypothetical  paradise  near  the  head  of  the 
Persian  Gulf.  Here  they  enjoyed  a  blessed  and 
untroubled  existence,  but  the  new  lot  of  their 
descendants  was  less  ideal.  Never  again  would 
mankind  be  destroyed  promiscuously,  but  dis- 
asters would  fall  upon  evildoers,  lions  and 
leopards  would  be  let  loose  to  devour  men, 
famine  and  pestilence  would  come  upon  the 
land,  and  mortals  would  suffer  many  ills  from 
which  there  is  no  promise  of  release. 

The  legend  of  Ishtar's  descent  to  the  lower 
world  discloses  still  another  phase  of  conflict  and 
triumph  pictured  by  the  Babylonian  imagina- 
tion. This  mother-goddess  was  the  personifica- 
tion of  the  vital  and  reproductive  forces  of 
nature.  But  when  she  descended  to  Hades, 
where  she  was  held  captive  by  the  evil  powers 
of  the  nether  world,  the  vitality  of  nature 
waned,  deadly  winter  spread  over  the  land,  and 
the  complete  destruction  of  human  life  seemed 
imminent.  The  danger,  however,  was  averted 
through  Ishtar's  fortunate  escape  from  "the 


Gentile  Hopes  13 

house  where  those  who  enter  do  not  return." 
With  her  release  nature's  vital  powers  revived, 
bringing  the  joys  of  springtime  back  again  and 
insuring  to  mortals  a  fresh  supply  of  food  as  well 
as  an  increase  of  flocks.  Thus  each  year  had  its 
period  of  special  distress  followed  by  a  season 
of  hope. 

The  contrast  between  the  times  of  distress 
and  the  age  of  happiness  is  not  confined  to  the 
realm  of  mythology;  it  also  appears  in  the 
annals  of  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  history. 
Evil  days  are  predicted  when  the  glory  of  Baby- 
lon will  decline  under  the  rule  of  a  prince  who 
will  bring  upon  the  people  a  time  of  unceasing 
warfare  and  slaughter.  Men  will  devour  one 
another,  parents  will  barter  away  their  children, 
disorders  will  suddenly  overtake  the  land,  the 
husband  will  desert  his  wife  and  the  wife  her 
husband,  the  mother  will  bolt  the  door  against 
her  daughter,  and  a  foreign  conqueror  will  over- 
run Babylonia. 

In  contrast  with  the  prophecy  of  evil  things 
during  the  reign  of  an  incapable  prince,  other 
rulers  are  hailed  as  divine  deliverers  who  inau- 
gurate a  truly  Golden  Age.  For  example,  Ham- 
murabi, king  of  Babylon,  viewed  his  rule  as  the 
dawn  of  an  ideal  regime  when  the  evils  of  former 


14  The  Millennial  Hope 

days  had  come  to  an  end  with  the  appearing  of 
the  new  kingdom  of  righteousness: 

When  the  lofty  king  Anu,  king  of  Annunaki,  and  Bel, 
Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  who  determines  the  destiny 
of  the  land,  committed  the  rule  of  all  mankind  to  Mar- 
duk,  the  chief  son  of  Ea;  ....  when  they  pronounced 
the  lofty  name  of  Babylon  ....  and  in  its  midst 
established  an  everlasting  kingdom  whose  foundations 
are  as  firm  as  heaven  and  earth,  at  that  time  Anu  and 
Bel  called  me,  Hammurabi,  the  exalted  prince,  the 
worshiper  of  the  gods,  to  cause  justice  to  prevail  in  the 
land,  to  destroy  the  wicked  and  the  evil,  to  prevent 
the  strong  from  oppressing  the  weak,  to  go  forth  like  the 
sun  over  the  black-headed  race,  to  enlighten  the  land, 
to  further  the  welfare  of  the  people.  Hammurabi,  the 
governor  named  by  Bel,  am  I  who  brought  about  plenty 
and  abundance  ....  the  lord  adorned  with  scepter 
and  crown  whom  the  wise  god  Ma-ma  has  clothed  with 
complete  power.^ 

Similarly  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  pros- 
perous Assyrian  king  Asurbanipal  we  read : 

Through  their  infallible  oracle  [the  gods]  Shamash 
and  Adad  have  decreed  the  rule  of  my  lord  the  king 
over  the  lands  [predicting]  favorable  reign,  days  of 
justice,  years  of  righteousness,  copious  showers,  mighty 
freshets,  favorable  market  prices.  The  gods  are  well 
disposed,  fear  of  God  is  abundant,  the  sanctuaries  are 
overloaded.    The  great  gods  of  heaven  and  earth  have 

^  R.  F.  Harper,  The  Code  of  Hammurabi,  pp.  3  flf. 


Gentile  Hopes  15 

announced  regarding  my  lord  the  king:  Old  men  will 
leap  for  joy,  children  will  sing,  joyfully  will  women  and 
maidens  give  themselves  to  the  duties  of  wife,  and 
being  delivered  they  will  give  life  to  sons  and  daughters. 
Animal  life  multiplies.  My  lord  the  king  has  bestowed 
life  upon  him  whose  sins  had  destined  him  for  death. 
Thou  hast  liberated  those  who  were  many  years  in 
prison,  thou  hast  given  health  to  those  who  were  a 
long  time  ill,  the  hungry  have  become  satisfied,  the 
emaciated  have  become  fat,  the  naked  have  been 
clothed  with  garments.' 

In  addition  to  its  myth-makers  and  its  po- 
litical historians,  Babylonia  also  had  its  phi- 
losophers who  offered  their  interpretation  of 
the  ever-present  conflict  between  the  world's 
opposing  forces.  The  Babylonian  philosopher 
derived  his  wisdom  from  a  study  of  the  stars, 
whose  orderly  procedure  readily  suggested  that 
the  universe  was  not  the  plaything  of  chance, 
but  was  governed  by  fixed  laws.  He  who  pos- 
sessed adequate  astral  wisdom  could  read  these 
laws,  and  this  knowledge  enabled  him  either 
to  interpret  past  history  or  to  foretell  coming 
events.  Observation  showed  that  changes  in 
the  position  of  the  heavenly  bodies  were  at- 
tended by  corresponding  changes  in  the  seasons 

^  R.  F.  Harper,  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  Letters,  Part  I,  No.  2> 
pp.  2  f. 


1 6  The  Millennial  Hope 

of  the  year,  each  season  recurring  at  its 
appointed  time.  Thus  the  Hfe  of  nature  was 
seen  to  move  in  cycles  controlled  by  the  orderly 
movements  of  the  heavens.  This  fact  easily  led 
the  astral  philosopher  to  assume  that  world- 
history  also  moved  in  recurring  cycles.  Since 
each  year  had  its  days  of  youth  and  its  declining 
season  of  old  age,  so  the  world  was  supposed  to 
pass  through  a  series  of  births  and  deaths  as  the 
successive  world-years  came  and  went. 

According  to  Berosus,  a  Babylonian  priest  of 
the  third  century  B.C.,  fire  and  flood  alternated 
in  bringing  about  the  end  of  successive  world- 
eras.  When  the  planets  stood  in  a  particular 
position,  the  heat  of  summer  would  become  so 
severe  that  all  the  world  would  burst  out  in 
flame;  and  at  another  time,  owing  to  the  con- 
junction of  the  planets,  the  winter  rains  would 
descend  in  an  overwhelming  flood.  Berosus 
was  so  sure  of  the  accuracy  of  his  observations 
that  he  assigned  a  definite  date  both  for  the 
conflagration  and  for  the  deluge. 

The  foregoing  survey  shows  the  peoples  of 
the  Tigris-Euphrates  Valley  to  have  been  fully 
conscious  of  the  ills  that  threaten  man's  life 
upon  the  earth.  Babylonian  nature-myths 
reflect  a  primitive  age  when  man's  subsistence 


Gentile  Hopes  17 

was  threatened  by  the  devastations  of  storm 
and  flood  or  by  the  rotation  of  unfavorable 
seasons.  The  victory  of  a  gradually  evolving 
civilization  was  pictorially  represented  as  a 
heroic  triumph  of  beneficent  deities.  To  be 
sure,  evil  had  not  been  completely  annihilated, 
but  a  new  and  better  age  had  already  been 
inaugurated.  A  more  advanced  stage  of  reflec- 
tion appears  in  historical  times,  when  the  hopes 
of  the  people  are  fixed  upon  some  princely 
deliverer  whose  favorable  rule  means  millennial 
blessings  for  his  subjects.  Yet  the  savior-prince 
is  not  the  ultimate  source  of  help;  he  is  dis- 
charging a  divine  commission,  and  his  reign  is 
beneficent  because  it  is  a  kingdom  of  God  on 
earth.  In  astral  philosophy  life's  immediate  ills 
and  immediate  blessings  figure  less  prominently, 
since  they  are  merely  incidental  items  in  a  great 
cosmic  process.  The  new  world-year  may  take 
delight  in  its  youth,  but  it  is  destined  for  decay. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  dying  world  may  console 
itself  with  the  assurance  of  future  renovation. 
While  this  program  may  offer  comfort  to  the 
cosmos,  it  contains  no  consolation  for  the 
individual.  Those  who  chance  to  be  alive  in 
the  days  of  the  world's  youth  share  temporarily 
in  its  delights,   but  all  souls  are  ultimately 


1 8  The  Millennial  Hope 

destined  for  shadowy  abodes  where  they  dwell 
forever  in  joyless  monotony. 

IV 

The  Persians  were  keenly  conscious  of  a  sharp 
conflict  between  good  and  evil  in  the  world. 
This  struggle  made  a  mighty  appeal  to  their 
imagination,  and  the  course  of  its  progress  was 
portrayed  in  vivid  colors.  Both  men  and 
divinities  were  thought  to  participate  in  the 
strife;  nor  would  the  conflict  cease  until  the 
present  evil  world  is  miraculously  purged  of  its 
wickedness,  cleansed  by  the  purifying  fire  of  a 
final  judgment,  and  made  the  scene  of  a  new 
kingdom  of  perfect  blessedness. 

The  notion  of  a  bitter  warfare  between  the 
powers  of  light  and  the  powers  of  darkness  lies 
at  the  very  root  of  all  Persian  thinking.  At  an 
early  date  old  nature-myths  had  been  trans- 
formed into  ideal  moral  struggles  between  the 
god  of  righteousness  on  the  one  hand  and  the 
prince  of  evil  on  the  other.  The  world  began 
with  the  good  god's  creative  act  in  producing 
beings  worthy  of  himself.  This  was  followed 
by  the  counter-activity  of  the  evil  spirit,  who 
created  many  demons  and  fiends  to  assist  him 
in  his  malicious  designs.     Henceforth  the  con- 


Gentile  Hopes  19 

flict  raged,  every  move  made  by  the  forces  of 
righteousness  being  offset  by  some  new  activity 
on  the  part  of  the  powers  of  wickedness.  When 
the  process  of  creation  had  advanced  to  the 
point  where  man  emerged,  he  at  once  became 
the  special  object  of  demonic  attack.  Ever 
since  his  creation  he  has  been  a  most  active 
participant  in  the  ceaseless  moral  struggle, 
arraying  himself  at  will  on  the  side  of  the  good 
god  or  on  the  side  of  the  demons.  Thus  the 
world  has  become  a  great  battleground  where 
God,  his  angelic  assistants,  the  beneficent 
powers  of  nature,  and  righteous  men  are  pitted 
against  Satan,  his  demonic  allies,  malignant 
natural  forces,  and  evil  men. 

Persian  speculation  divided  the  course  of  the 
world's  history  into  four  main  periods,  each 
embracing  3,000  years.  During  the  first  period 
God's  creation  remained  in  a  pure  spiritual  state 
with  intangible  bodies  which  were  unaffected 
by  the  taint  of  evil.  Then  came  the  material 
creation,  extending  over  another  3,000  years, 
during  which  the  will  of  God  was  regnant.  The 
third  period  was  one  of  great  distress  because 
the  Prince  of  Darkness  now  became  much  more 
aggressive  and  filled  creation  with  many  mis- 
eries.   The  fourth  period,  which  is  the  present 


20  The  Millennial  Hope 

age,  opened  with  the  coming  of  Zoroaster,  the 
alleged  founder  of  the  true  religion,  who  com- 
municated a  new  revelation  to  men  and  greatly 
strengthened  their  powers  of  resisting  Satan  and 
his  hosts.  After  3,000  years  of  this  struggle 
have  passed,  the  present  world  will  come  to  an 
end.  Thus  the  Persians  held  the  doctrine  of  the 
great  world-year,  an  idea  which  we  have  already 
encountered  in  Babylonia.  The  four  trimil- 
lenniums  of  the  Persian  system  together  make 
a  12,000-year  period,  which  evidently  is  one 
world-year  of  12  months,  each  month  covering 
1,000  years,  the  months  being  grouped  into  four 
great  seasons  of  3,000  years  each. 

Legend  subdivided  the  third  of  the  four  great 
trimillenniums  into  three  different  periods,  each 
representing  a  distinct  stage  in  the  history  of 
the  conflict  between  good  and  evil.  The  first 
thousand  years  constituted  a  Golden  Age  ruled 
by  an  ideal  hero,  Yima  the  Brilliant.  He  is  the 
fabled  educator  of  the  human  race,  who  con- 
ferred the  blessings  of  civilization  upon  men  and 
guided  them  in  the  ways  of  fabulous  prosperity. 
So  rapidly  did  all  good  things  multiply  that  on 
three  successive  occasions,  300  years  apart,  it 
became  necessary  to  enlarge  the  earth  in  order 
to  make  room  for  the  abundant  life  which  it 


Gentile  Hopes  21 

nourished.     The  glorious  hero  and  his  benefi- 
cent rule  are  thus  described : 

Brilliant  and  with  herds  full  goodly, 
Of  all  men  most  rich  in  Glory, 
Of  mankind  like  to  the  sunlight, 
So  that  in  his  kingdom  made  he 
Beasts  and  men  to  be  undying, 
Plants  and  waters  never  drying. 
Food  invincible  bestowing. 
In  the  reign  of  valiant  Yima 
Neither  cold  nor  heat  was  present. 
Neither  age  nor  death  was  present. 
Neither  envy,  demon-founded. 
Fifteen  years  of  age  in  figure 
Son  and  father  walked  together 
All  the  days  of  Vivanghvant's  offspring, 
Yima  ruled  with  herds  full  goodly.' 

The  Golden  Age  is  followed  by  a  thousand 
years  of  distress  when  the  power  of  the  demons 
prevails.  During  this  period  the  destructive 
forces  of  winter  are  let  loose.  The  pleasant 
pastures  which  formerly  had  been  filled  with 
flocks  and  herds  are  now  buried  under  snow  and 
ice,  great  numbers  of  living  creatures  perish,  and 
the  death-dealing  demons  spread  destruction 
everywhere.     But  by  a  special  providence  of  the 

I  Yasna  IX.  4  f.,  as  cited  by  A.  J.  Carnoy  in  The  Mythology 
of  All  Races,  VI,  304. 


22  The  Millennial  Hope 

good  god  a  remnant  of  life  from  the  Golden  Age 
is  preserved,  stored  up  in  a  mythical  paradise, 
where  it  awaits  the  restoration  of  a  new  ideal 
order  of  which  it  is  both  the  model  and  the  germ. 
As  the  end  of  Yima's  reign  draws  near  he  is 
instructed  to  build  an  inclosure  four-square  and 
as  long  as  a  riding-ground  on  each  side.  When 
the  structure  is  completed,  it  is  to  be  filled  with 
the  choicest  representatives  of  all  living  things 
gathered  by  pairs.     Yima's  instructions  are: 

Gather  together  the  seed  of  all  men  and  women  that 
are  the  greatest  and  the  best  and  the  finest  on  this 
earth;  gather  together  the  seed  of  all  kinds  of  cattle 
that  are  the  greatest  and  the  best  and  the  finest  on  this 
earth;  gather  together  the  seed  of  all  plants  that  are 
the  tallest  and  sweetest  on  this  earth;  gather  together 
the  seed  of  all  fruits  that  are  the  most  edible  and  the 
sweetest  on  this  earth.  Bring  these  by  pairs  to  be 
inexhaustible  so  long  as  these  men  shall  stay  in  the 
inclosure.^ 

This  paradise  is  to  be  kept  tightly  shut  until 
the  final  destruction  of  the  world's  wickedness. 
Then  the  inclosure  will  be  opened  in  order  that 
the  renovated  earth  may  be  fructified  by  the 
pure  seed  of  the  holy  god's  first  creation.  These 
traditions  regarding  a  Golden  Age  and  an  ideal 

*  Vendidad  II.  27  f,,  as  cited  by  A.  J.  Camoy,  op.  cit.,  p.  308. 


Gentile  Hopes  23 

paradise  are  modeled  after  the  imaginary  age  of 
future  blessedness  for  which  the  struggling 
spirit  of  mankind  yearned;  and  this  idealized 
past  served  in  turn  as  a  support  for  faith  in  the 
final  triumph  of  good  over  evil.  What  once 
had  been  might  surely  be  expected  again. 

A  long  period  of  struggle  lay  between  the 
Golden  Age  of  mythology  and  the  coming  day 
of  the  world's  final  redemption.  The  one 
thousand  years  of  darkness  which  set  in  with 
the  removal  of  Yima  were  followed  by  another 
thousand  years  of  struggle.  During  this  time 
the  forces  of  light  made  slow  headway  against 
the  powers  of  darkness.  A  new  stage  in  the 
struggle  is  marked  by  the  appearing  of  Zoro- 
aster, who  was  sent  by  God  to  bring  the  divine 
revelation  to  man,  thus  giving  a  mighty  impetus 
to  the  forces  of  righteousness.  His  work  marks 
the  beginning  of  the  final  3,000-year  period 
which  includes  modern  times  and  is  to  close 
with  the  catastrophic  end  of  the  world,  when  all 
evil  will  be  annihilated. 

The  events  connected  with  the  final  triumph 
of  God  were  extensively  elaborated  by  Persian 
fancy.  Shortly  before  the  end  the  world  will 
suffer  great  distress,  as  the  Satanic  powers  make 
a  last  gigantic  effort  at  self-assertion.     Demonic 


24  The  Millennial  Hope 

hordes  will  come  from  the  east  and  from  the 
west,  the  people  will  be  corrupted  through  the 
worship  of  idols,  friends  and  relatives  will 
become  estranged  from  one  another,  and  a  large 
part  of  the  nation  will  perish.  All  nature  will 
be  shaken  by  the  shock  of  battle  between  the 
good  spirits  and  the  demons  of  darkness.  Tem- 
porarily the  latter  are  so  powerful  that  they  fill 
the  earth  with  indescribable  sufferings.  Pesti- 
lences break  out  everywhere,  nature  ceases  to 
be  productive,  rains  no  longer  water  the  earth, 
men  die  of  hunger,  the  brightness  of  the  sun 
diminishes,  the  days  become  shorter,  the  years 
pass  more  rapidly,  and  the  black  night  of 
Satanic  darkness  threatens  to  engulf  the 
universe. 

The  terrible  conditions  of  the  last  times  are 
finally  relieved  by  the  appearance  of  a  savior, 
Soshyans  (Saoshyant),  who  was  born  in  a 
miraculous  manner  from  Zoroaster's  seed,  which 
had  been  carefully  preserved  through  the  cen- 
turies by  the  angels.  With  the  advent  of 
Soshyans  and  his  companions  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead  takes  place.  Throughout  the  cen- 
turies the  spirits  of  the  departed  had  taken 
up  their  abode  in  heaven  or  in  hell,  according 
to  their  deserts,  but  now  they  are  reunited  with 


Gentile  Hopes  25 

their  former  bodies.  The  bones,  the  blood,  the 
hair,  and  the  vital  force,  which  had  been 
intrusted  to  the  keeping  of  earth,  water,  plants, 
and  fire,  respectively,  are  restored,  and  each 
person  rises  in  the  place  where  his  death  had 
occurred.  With  the  resurrection  the  power  of 
death  is  completely  broken.  Those  who  were 
still  alive  when  the  savior  appeared  also  share 
in  this  victory  over  decay  and  corruption. 
Each  one  partakes  of  the  heavenly  food  of 
immortality,  and  never  again  will  the  spirit  be 
separated  from  the  body.  All  peoples,  having 
been  taught  a  common  language,  with  one  voice 
celebrate  their  triumph  by  rendering  songs  of 
praise  to  God  and  to  the  archangels. 

Before  the  state  of  final  blessedness  is 
attained,  judgment  must  be  executed  upon 
sinners,  the  powers  of  Satan  must  be  completely 
crushed,  and  the  world  must  undergo  a  process 
of  purification  and  renewal.  After  the  resur- 
rection all  men  meet  in  a  common  assembly,  but 
the  contrast  in  appearance  between  the  right- 
eous and  the  wicked  is  as  sharp  as  that  between 
black  and  white  sheep  in  the  same  flock.  The 
good  and  evil  deeds  of  each  are  made  clearly 
manifest  in  the  presence  of  the  entire  company, 
whereupon  remorse  and  shame  overtake  the 


26  The  Millennial  Hope 

wicked  while  the  righteous  rejoice  in  their  own 
good  fortune.  Then  comes  the  separation  when 
sinners  are  committed  to  hell  for  three  days  of 
torment,  their  terrible  punishments  being  inten- 
sified by  a  clear  vision  of  the  sumptuous 
blessings  enjoyed  in  the  meantime  by  the  right- 
eous. After  judgment  the  whole  world,  hell 
included,  is  purified  by  a  baptism  of  fire,  which 
causes  the  mountains  to  pour  forth  streams  of 
molten  metal.  This  cleansing  flood  sweeps  over 
all  the  earth,  leveling  hills  and  mountains  and 
purging  evil  out  of  sinners,  while  to  the  righteous 
it  is  as  pleasant  as  a  bath  of  warm  milk.  Above 
the  earth  good  and  evil  spirits  fight  out  their 
final  battle,  resulting  in  the  complete  rout  of 
Satan  and  his  allies.  His  power  is  forever 
destroyed,  he  himself  is  driven  back  to  the 
lowest  pit  of  darkness  whence  he  originally 
came,  and  the  regions  of  hell,  now  purified  by 
the  bath  of  molten  metal,  become  a  part  of  the 
new  heaven  and  the  new  earth  which  are  to 
endure  eternally.  Thus  the  curtain  falls  upon 
the  last  act  of  the  great  world-drama. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  Persians  were 
extremely  sensitive  to  the  presence  of  evil  forces 
in  their  world,  or  that  they  looked  to  the  Deity 
for  a  miraculous  deliverance  from  their  woes. 


Gentile  Hopes  27 

Their  very  environment  impressed  upon  them 
the  seriousness  of  the  conflict,  as  well  as  the 
seeming  futility  of  their  own  efforts  to  secure  a 
permanent  victory.  Nature  was  far  from 
kindly  in  the  Iranian  territory.  Men  suffered 
from  violent  extremes  of  temperature,  the  pro- 
ductivity of  the  fields  was  often  threatened  by 
droughts,  to  overcome  the  natural  sterility  of 
the  soil  was  a  difficult  task,  beasts  of  prey 
frequently  endangered  the  flocks  of  the  herds- 
man, and  robbers  found  easy  shelter  in  desert 
places  or  in  the  fastnesses  of  the  mountains. 
Persian  national  history  is  also  marked  by  an 
almost  perpetual  struggle,  not  only  with  less 
formidable  foes  from  the  neighboring  steppes, 
but  with  such  world-powers  as  Assyria,  Mace- 
donia, Rome,  and  Islam.  The  preservation  of 
both  individual  and  national  life  involved  a 
constant  conflict  with  opposing  powers.  Like 
many  other  peoples,  the  Persians  looked  to 
religion  for  the  hope  of  ultimate  escape  from 
their  strenuous  surroundings,  and  mythology 
offered  them  the  fantastic  picture  of  a  cata- 
strophic end  of  the  world.  Their  most  famous 
religious  teacher,  Zoroaster,  had  championed 
this  teaching,  and  apparently  he  had  believed 
that  the  catastrophe  was  already  imminent  in 


28  The  Millennial  Hope 

his  day,  in  the  seventh  century  B.C.  But  sub- 
sequent speculation  preserved  the  sanctity  of 
the  hope  by  pushing  it  well  forward  into  the 
future,  in  order  that  history  might  not  deny 
its  validity;  and  assurance  was  made  doubly 
strong  by  asserting  that  this  great  expectation 
was  no  mere  creation  of  human  fancy,  but  a 
truth  which  had  been  divinely  revealed. 


Among  the  Greeks  the  experiences  of  life  were 
so  varied  that  the  hope  of  a  final  triumph  over 
present  ills  was  expressed  in  several  different 
ways.  Fierce  struggle  was  thought  to  have 
marked  the  course  of  the  world's  history  from 
the  very  outset.  At  an  early  date  stories  were 
current  describing  the  world's  progress  from  the 
days  of  primeval  chaos  down  to  historical  times, 
and  all  of  these  legends  portray  a  constant  con- 
flict between  hostile  forces.  From  heaven  and 
earth  spring  the  Titans — gigantic  personifica- 
tions of  the  elemental  forces  of  nature.  Many 
a  fierce  battle  has  to  be  fought  ere  these  ele- 
mental powers  can  be  brought  under  the  control 
necessary  to  an  orderly  status  of  civilized 
society.  But  at  last  Kronos,  the  mightiest  of 
the  Titans,  is  overthrown  by  his  son  Zeus,  who 


Gentile  Hopes  29 

henceforth  is  revered  as  father  of  gods  and  men 
and  ruler  of  the  universe.  Thus  the  primal 
forces  of  nature  battle  with  one  another  until 
order  emerges  from  chaos. 

Greek  mythology  pictured  the  career  of  man 
in  prehistoric  times  as  one  long  conflict  in  which 
evil  grew  constantly  stronger  while  man's  con- 
dition became  correspondingly  less  happy.  In 
Hesiod's  Works  and  Days,  composed  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  eighth  century  B.C.,  these 
views  find  clear  expression.  The  situation 
represented  is  a  very  human  one.  Hesiod  and 
his  brother  Perses  having  agreed  upon  a  division 
of  their  patrimony,  Perses  quickly  spends  his 
portion  in  fast  living,  while  Hesiod  retains  the 
homestead  and  prospers  by  cultivating  the  soil. 
After  dissipating  his  portion  of  the  inheritance, 
Perses  seeks  to  recruit  his  fortunes  by  means  of 
litigation.  He  brings  suit  against  his  brother  on 
the  ground  that  the  original  distribution  had 
not  been  just,  and  by  bribing  the  judges  he 
secures  possession  of  the  property.  Hesiod 
appeals  to  his  brother  to  forsake  the  law  courts 
and  submit  to  the  righteous  judgments  of  Zeus. 
Guided  by  this  practical  motive,  the  poet 
gathers  up  a  number  of  popular  tales  to  point 
the  moral  that  industry  and  justice  are  the  chief 


30  The  Millennial  Hope 

virtues  to  be  cherished  in  these  degenerate 
times. 

Hesiod  is  firmly  convinced  that  the  present 
world  is  full  of  evil.  There  is  abroad  in  the  land 
a  spirit  of  strife  which  stirs  up  discord  between 
brothers  and  engenders  fearful  wars.  Both  by 
day  and  by  night  unnumbered  ills  move  silently 
and  unseen  among  us  mortals,  striking  down 
their  victims  at  will.  Because  of  their  presence 
the  earth  is  slow  in  yielding  its  increase,  they 
prepare  destructive  insects  or  blighting  scourges 
for  the  growing  crops,  they  cause  all  manner  of 
diseases  which  rack  and  consume  the  human 
frame,  and  they  have  brought  upon  men  the 
curse  of  death.  The  situation  seems  all  the 
more  hopeless  since  it  is  a  direct  result  of 
the  effort  made  by  Prometheus  (Forethought), 
the  would-be  friend  of  man,  to  advance  the 
status  of  mortals  by  teaching  them  the  use  of 
fire.  But  man  must  learn  that  his  only  hope — 
if  he  may  hope  at  all — lies  in  absolute  submis- 
sion to  the  arbitrary  will  of  the  gods  and  not  in 
any  attainments  to  be  reached  by  human  effort. 
From  this  point  of  view  the  progress  of  human 
development  is  downward  rather  than  upward. 

The  gradual  deterioration  of  mankind  is 
taught  again  in  Hesiod' s  description  of  the  sue- 


Gentile  Hopes  31 

cessive  ages.  At  first  the  Olympian  gods 
created  a  race  of  men  free  from  all  ills  who  lived 
many  years  without  growing  old,  and  who  died 
at  last  as  if  merely  overcome  by  sleep.  During 
this  Golden  Age  earth  bore  all  good  things 
spontaneously,  and  all  men  were  rich  both  in 
material  blessings  and  in  divine  favors.  When 
this  age  was  brought  to  a  close  by  the  will  of 
Zeus,  its  men  became  kindly  ministering  spirits 
which  veil  themselves  in  shrouds  of  mist  and 
move  everywhere  over  the  earth  to  direct  or  to 
succor  mortals  throughout  all  subsequent  ages. 
Next  comes  the  Silver  Age,  far  inferior  to  the 
Age  of  Gold,  but  still  a  time  of  partial  happi- 
ness. Ultimately  the  men  of  this  time  fall 
under  the  wrath  of  Zeus  because  they  neglect 
the  worship  of  the  gods,  but  being  a  race  of 
silver  they  receive  a  secondary  position  of 
honor  beneath  the  earth  and  are  known  hence- 
forth as  ''blessed  ones."  The  third  age  is  that 
of  Bronze,  when  men  learn  war  and  give  them- 
selves over  to  terrible  strife,  but  presently  they 
are  dragged  down  ingloriously  to  Hades.  The 
Age  of  Iron — which  Hesiod  regards  as  the  pres- 
ent age — is  most  wretched  of  all.  Now  there 
is  no  respite  from  toil,  no  release  from  care. 
This  state  of  affairs  will  endure  until  the  time 


32  The  Millennial  Hope 

arrives  for  this  age  to  end,  for  Zeus  has  also 
determined  a  day  for  the  final  destruction  of 
the  Age  of  Iron. 

What  will  follow  the  Iron  Age?  Will  the 
original  cycle  then  repeat  itself,  bringing  in  the 
Age  of  Gold  once  more?  Although  the  poet 
does  not  essay  the  role  of  prophet,  yet  he 
expresses  a  wish  that  his  birth  had  been  delayed 
until  the  cruel  Age  of  Iron  had  passed.  Appar- 
ently he  dares  to  hope — ^perhaps  even  to  believe 
— that  the  best  is  yet  to  be. 

Greek  mythology  contains  another  legend 
that  is  instructive  in  the  present  connection. 
In  the  distant  past  man  had  been  so  strongly 
prone  to  wickedness  that  Zeus  determined  to 
devastate  the  earth  with  a  flood.  The  destruc- 
tion was  complete,  the  righteous  Deukalion  and 
his  wife  alone  escaping  from  the  calamity. 
Instructed  by  an  oracle,  they  cast  behind  them 
stones  from  which  human  beings  spring;  the 
earth  itself  produces  plants  and  animals;  and 
a  new  age  arises  when  man  is  given  a  fresh 
opportunity  to  prove  his  mettle  in  the  struggle 
against  evil.  Yet,  on  the  whole,  the  course  of 
development  moves  downward,  notwithstand- 
ing temporary  advances  in  civilization  which  are 
made  possible  by  the  assistance  of  heroes  and 


Gentile  Hopes  33 

demigods.  These  helpers  of  mortals  give  aid  in 
founding  cities,  teach  men  to  cultivate  the  soil, 
communicate  to  them  useful  discoveries  and 
inventions,  inspire  them  to  worthy  attainments 
in  poetry  or  song,  and  instruct  them  in  the 
proper  observances  of  religion.  But  even  these 
accomplishments  were  not  sufficient  to  persuade 
the  Greek  myth-maker  that  the  present  was  not 
a  degenerate  age.  He  ceased  not  to  look  back- 
ward with  longing  eyes  to  the  Golden  Age  of  the 
past,  or  to  entertain  a  faltering  hope  that  those 
ideal  days  might  return. 

The  past  Golden  Age  was  not  the  only  model 
for  future  hopes;  the  mythical  fate  of  heroes 
served  a  similar  purpose.  Such  of  these  ancient 
worthies  as  had  not  been  rewarded  with  a  posi- 
tion among  the  gods  were  thought  to  be  leading 
a  delightful  existence  in  the  isles  of  the  blest  at 
the  confines  of  the  world.  There  they  dwelt 
under  the  rule  of  Kronos,  who  had  formerly 
held  sway  in  heaven  when  the  first  Golden  Age 
was  upon  earth.  Now  the  blessed  heroes 
enjoyed  a  partial  return  of  primitive  bliss,  for 
three  times  yearly  the  fertile  soil  of  the  Elysian 
fields  produced  spontaneously  its  honey-sweet 
fruits.  Toward  these  delightful  regions  present 
mortals  often  cast  covetous  eyes.     Sometimes 


34  The  Millennial  Hope 

a  warrior  weary  of  strife  was  tempted  to  forsake 
the  conflict  and  to  sail  westward  in  search  of 
this  earthly  paradise,  which  legend  located  on 
certain  islands  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean  a  thousand 
miles  or  so  from  the  African  coast'.  In  Roman 
times  Horace""  makes  bold  to  suggest  that  men 
take  this  Elysian  kingdom  of  heaven  by  force. 
He  bemoans  the  sad  condition  of  mortals  in 
the  present  Age  of  Iron  and  bids  them  forsake 
its  wretchedness,  turning  their  eyes  toward 
those  smiling  isles  of  refuge  where  the  earth 
yields  her  increase  without  the  plowman's  care. 
It  is  quite  possible,  however,  that  Horace  is  not 
advising  his  contemporaries  to  emigrate  to  the 
islands  of  the  Atlantic,  but  is  metaphorically 
referring  to  Rome  itself,  now  under  the  rule  of 
Augustus,  who  is  hailed  by  his  admirers  as  the 
restorer  of  the  Golden  Age.  At  this  time  some 
Romans  really  believed  that  their  millennium 
had  dawned. 

VI 

Greek  mythology  was  freely  appropriated  by 
the  Romans,  who  in  some  respects  took  the 
problem  of  the  world's  evil  more  seriously  than 
did  the  Greeks.     While  Roman  writers  were 

^  Plutarch  Sertorius  8  f.  ^  Epodes  i6. 


Gentile  Hopes  35 

busy  expounding  Greek  myths  for  Latin  readers, 
the  Roman  statesman,  with  his  remarkable 
aptitude  for  practical  efficiency,  undertook  the 
task  of  making  the  blessings  of  the  Golden  Age 
a  reality  for  his  own  day  and  generation. 
Roman  political  philosophy  of  the  first  century 
B.C.  adopted  the  notion  of  successive  cycles  in 
historical  evolution  and  saw  in  contemporary 
events  evidences  of  the  passing  of  a  decadent  age 
and  the  dawn  of  a  new  order.  The  closing  years 
of  the  Republic  had  been  a  period  of  much 
distress  which  made  men  peculiarly  conscious 
of  life's  ills  and  prompted  strong  desires  for 
dehverance.  Poets  called  to  memory  the 
golden  days  of  fabulous  happiness  when  Saturn 
had  ruled  and  wars  were  unknown,  while  at 
present  under  the  dominion  of  Jupiter  there  was 
no  end  of  war  and  slaughter.^  Craze  for  war 
was  said  to  rest  like  a  curse  upon  Rome,  doomed 
by  fate  thus  to  bring  ultimate  destruction  upon 
herself.^  As  early  as  the  year  88  B.C.,  in  con- 
nection with  the  terrible  civil  war  for  which 
Sulla  was  held  chiefly  responsible,  premonitory 
signs  had  been  observed  which  were  alleged  to 
indicate  the  coming  of  a  new  age.  It  was  re- 
ported that  one  day  out  of  a  clear  sky  a  trumpet 

^  Tibullus  i.  3.  ^  Horace  Epodes  7. 


36  The  Millennial  Hope 

had  sounded  mournful  and  terrible,  presaging 
the  advent  of  internal  conflicts  which  were  to 
bring  more  distress  upon  Rome  than  she  had 
formerly  suffered  from  all  her  enemies/  Again, 
at  Julius  Caesar's  funeral  the  alleged  appearance 
of  a  wonderful  star  in  broad  daylight  was  taken 
to  indicate  the  exit  of  one  age  and  the  dawn  of  a 
new  era.'' 

During  the  period  of  reconstruction  following 
the  death  of  Julius  Caesar  and  the  gradual  rise 
of  Octavian  to  a  position  of  supreme  power 
throughout  the  whole  Roman  world,  Virgil 
ventured  to  prophesy.  He  was  not  unmindful 
of  the  ills  to  which  humanity  was  heir,  nor  did 
he  ignore  the  trying  experiences  of  the  times; 
yet  in  spite  of  all  these  calamities  he  was  dis- 
tinctly optimistic.  To  be  sure,  he  recognized 
that  the  husbandman  often  found  his  efforts 
thwarted  by  wild  beasts,  by  robbers,  or  by 
floods,  but  in  struggling  against  these  enemies 
man  acquired  much  greater  skill  than  would 
otherwise  have  been  possible.  In  fact,  Jupiter 
himself  had  let  loose  these  hostile  forces  for  the 
very  purpose  of  encouraging  humanity  toward 
higher  attainments.^    But  in  all  his  striving 

^  Plutarch  Sulla  7. 

'  Servius  on  Virgil  Ed.  ix.  46.  3  Georg.  i.  121  flf. 


Gentile  Hopes  37 

man  remembered  that  once  upon  a  time  there 
had  been  no  pests,  the  very  choicest  products  of 
nature  had  grown  spontaneously  in  great  abun- 
dance, and  now  the  former  Age  of  Gold  was 
about  to  return. 

Virgil  based  his  hope  upon  observation  and 
revelation.  The  hope  of  world-renewal  had 
been  suggested  both  by  legends  regarding  ideal 
times  in  the  past  and  by  the  notion  of  cycles  in 
the  revolution  of  the  ages.  The  troubles  of  the 
time  provided  a  fitting  occasion  for  the  intro- 
duction of  a  new  order,  while  desire  and  expect- 
ancy made  it  easier  to  perceive  premonitory 
signs  of  coming  events.  In  addition  to  these 
immediate  incentives,  the  Sibylline  books — the 
"bible''  of  Roman  religion — had  also  revealed 
the  approach  of  a  new  era.  Under  the  inspira- 
tion of  all  these  authorities  Virgil  uttered  his 
famous  prophecy  of  the  impending  Roman 
"millennium": 

The  last  age  prophesied  by  the  Sibyl  is  come  and 
the  great  series  of  ages  begins  anew.  Justice  now 
returns,  Saturn  reigns  once  more,  and  a  new  progeny  is 
sent  down  from  high  heaven.  O  chaste  Lucina,  be 
thou  propitious  to  the  infant  boy  under  whom  first  the 
iron  age  shall  cease  and  the  golden  age  over  all  the 
world  arise.  Now  thine  own  Apollo  reigns.  While 
thou  too,  Pollio,  while  thou  art  consul,  this  glory  of  our 


38  The  Millennial  Hope 

age  shall  dawn  and  the  great  months  begin  to  roll. 
Under  thy  rule  all  vestiges  of  our  guilt  shall  disappear, 
releasing  the  earth  from  fear  forever.  He  [the  new- 
born child]  shall  partake  of  the  life  of  the  gods,  he  shall 
see  heroes  mingling  with  gods,  and  be  seen  by  them, 
and  he  shall  bring  peace  to  the  world,  ruling  it  with  his 
father's  might.  On  thee,  O  child,  the  earth,  as  her 
first  offerings,  shall  pour  forth  everywhere  without 
culture  creeping  ivy  with  lady's  glove,  and  Egyptian 
beans  with  smiling  acanthus  intermixed.  The  goats  of 
themselves  shall  convey  homeward  their  udders  dis- 
tended with  milk,  nor  shall  the  herds  dread  monstrous 
lions.  Thy  very  cradle  shall  blossom  with  attractive 
flowers.  The  serpent  shall  perish  and  the  secret-poison 
plant  shall  disappear;  the  Assyrian  balm  shall  grow 
in  every  field.  But  as  soon  as  thou  shalt  be  able  to 
read  the  praises  of  heroes  and  the  achievements  of  thy 
sire,  and  to  know  what  virtue  is,  the  field  shall  by 
degrees  grow  yellow  with  ripening  corn,  blushing  grapes 
shall  hang  on  the  rude  brambles,  and  hard  oaks  shall 

drip  with  dewy  honey Dear  offspring  of  the 

gods,  mighty  seed  of  Jove,  enter  thy  great  heritage,  for 
the  time  is  now  at  hand.  See  how  the  world's  massive 
dome  bows  before  thee — earth  and  oceans  and  the  vault 
of  heaven.  See  how  all  things  rejoice  at  the  approach 
of  this  age.  Oh,  that  my  last  stage  of  life  may  continue 
so  long  and  so  much  breath  be  given  me  as  shall  suffice 
to  sing  thy  deeds  !^ 

This  politico-religious  faith  of  the  Romans 
was  still  further  strengthened  by  the  success  of 

I  Eel.  iv. 


Gentile  Hopes  39 

Augustus  in  establishing  order  throughout  the 
Empire.  When  Virgil  had  delivered  his  mes- 
sianic prophecy  in  the  year  40  B.C.,  he  did 
not  specifically  name  the  divine  child  who 
was  to  prove  himself  savior  of  the  world. 
But  later,  when  composing  the  sixth  book  of 
the  Aeneid,  the  poet  was  able  to  point  to 
Augustus  as  the  promised  deliverer  who  is  ^'to 
establish  again  the  Golden  Age  in  Latium, 
through  those  lands  where  Saturn  reigned  of 
old."^ 

Faith  in  the  saving  mission  of  Augustus  is  not 
the  peculiar  possession  of  the  literary  men  of  the 
imperial  court;  it  is  also  a  widespread  belief 
among  the  populace,  particularly  in  the  eastern 
portion  of  the  empire.  In  these  regions  it  had 
been  customary  for  centuries  to  regard  a  benefi- 
cent prince  as  a  saving  minister  of  Deity.  In 
Greece,  Asia  Minor,  Syria,  and  Egypt  powerful 
generals  and  other  potentates  had  often  been 
hailed  as  deliverers  from  ill,  and  the  blessings 
which  their  rule  conferred  upon  their  subjects 
were  esteemed  as  divine  gifts.  But  at  no  period 
in  the  memory  of  man  had  the  stability  of  life 
in  the  Mediterranean  world  been  more  secure 
than  under  the  kindly  rule  of  Augustus.     These 

^Aeneid  vi.  788  ff. 


40  The  Millennial  Hope 

new  conditions,  in  contrast  with  the  wretched- 
ness of  the  preceding  period,  led  naturally  to 
most  extravagant  praise  of  the  emperor.  Surely 
his  advent  had  brought  an  end  to  the  Age  of 
Iron,  and  now  the  process  of  world-renewal  had 
begun.  Accordingly  Augustus'  subjects  in- 
scribed memorials  to  him  in  which  they 
expressed  a  belief  that  Providence  had  now 
fulfilled  all  the  prayers  of  mankind,  ''for  earth 
and  sea  have  peace;  cities  flourish  well  gov- 
erned, harmonious,  and  prosperous;  the  course 
of  all  good  things  has  reached  a  climax,  and  all 
mankind  has  been  filled  with  good  hopes  for  the 
future  and  good  cheer  for  the  present." 

The  final  revelation  of  divine  favor  for  mor- 
tals had  now  been  granted  in  the  person  and 
work  of  Augustus,  whom  Providence  "filled 
with  virtue  for  the  benefit  of  mankind,  sending 
him  to  be  a  savior  for  us  as  well  as  for  our 
descendants,  bringing  all  wars  to  an  end,  and 
setting  up  all  things  in  order.''  By  his  coming 
he  has  not  only  fulfilled  all  past  hopes  and 
excelled  all  previous  benefactors,  but  he  has 
left  to  future  generations  no  possibility  of  sur- 
passing him.  In  short,  when  he  was  born  the 
dawn  of  the  Golden  Age  began.  Such  was  the 
popular  faith  of  many  of  Augustus'  subjects. 


Gentile  Hopes  41 

VII 

While  mythological  fancy  and  political  theory 
were  making  their  contributions  toward  the 
shaping  of  Graeco-Roman  ^'millennial"  hopes, 
the  more  distinctly  religious  and  philosophical 
movements  of  the  time  were  also  exerting  an 
influence  upon  the  future  hopes  of  the  masses. 
Most  important  among  the  religions  were  the 
mystery-cults.  The  tendency  of  these  cults 
was  to  turn  men's  minds  away  from  the  notion 
of  world-salvation  and  to  center  attention  upon 
the  salvation  of  the  individual.  Yet  the  myths 
and  rites  of  these  religions  reflected  the  idea  of  a 
mighty  conflict  in  this  world.  Moreover,  the 
conflict  was  thought  to  affect,  not  only  the 
present  welfare  of  man,  but  also  the  fate  of  his 
immortal  soul.  Each  cult  offered  its  devotees 
the  hope  of  an  ultimate  victory  over  the  world's 
hostile  powers.  The  myths  described  how 
legendary  divinities  had  warded  off  from  man- 
kind the  terrors  of  winter,  having  procured,  by 
means  of  their  own  descent  to  the  lower  world, 
power  to  revive  the  life  of  nature  in  the  spring- 
time and  bless  mortals  with  an  abundance  of 
summer  fruits.  In  historical  times  these  mate- 
rial blessings  were  used  to  symbolize  a  victory 
for  the  souls  of  deceased  mortals.     As  the  divine 


42  The  Millennial  Hope 

hero  of  the  cult  had  descended  to  the  nether 
regions  and  returned  triumphant,  so  the  soul 
of  his  worshiper  would  be  liberated  from  the 
shades  below  and  transported  to  regions  of 
eternal  blessedness.  Although  belief  in  individ- 
ual immortality  offers  escape  from,  rather  than 
a  solution  of,  the  present  world^s  ills,  yet  the 
picture  of  future  blessedness  described  in  the 
mysteries  provided  suggestive  imagery  for  those 
who  wished  to  portray  the  glories  of  a  returning 
Golden  Age  upon  earth. 

The  Graeco-Roman  philosophers  also  strug- 
gled with  the  problem  of  the  world's  evil  and 
proposed  solutions  for  its  removal.  The  ideal 
republic  of  Plato  was  to  be  a  Utopia  of  man's 
own  making,  but  popular  notions  influenced 
very  perceptibly  the  details  of  the  scheme. 
This  new  model  society  was  really  a  replica  of 
the  Golden  Age  of  mythology  with  its  more 
fanciful  features  omitted  and  the  primary  activ- 
ities of  the  gods  eliminated.  But  Plato's  state 
was  not  to  endure  forever;  it  also  was  subject  to 
the  universal  law  of  change  and  decay.  First 
came  the  world-year  during  which  humanity 
was  upon  the  ascent,  this  development  culmi- 
nating in  the  realization  of  the  ideal  social  order 
which   Plato's   imagination   reared   for   itself. 


Gentile  Hopes  43 

Then  another  world-year  sets  in  marked  by  a 
gradual  process  of  decline.  These  two  alternat- 
ing ages  will  follow  each  other  as  long  as  the 
universe  endures,  each  part  of  each  cycle  reap- 
pearing at  its  appointed  time.  Since  the 
human  body  and  the  immortal  soul  are  items 
in  the  process,  man  may  ever  rest  assured  that 
some  day  in  the  more  or  less  distant  future  the 
Golden  Age  will  return,  when  all  souls  and  all 
bodies  will  be  temporarily  reunited  under  per- 
fectly ideal  conditions. 

In  the  case  of  Epicureanism,  its  rigid  mate- 
rialism and  its  emphatic  denial  that  the  gods 
concerned  themselves  at  all  with  the  present 
world  left  room  only  for  human  activity  in 
combating  the  ills  to  which  flesh  is  heir.  The 
Epicureans  neither  permitted  themselves  to 
follow  mythological  fancies  nor  did  they  indulge 
in  idealistic  flights  of  imagination,  after  the 
Platonic  fashion.  They  scorned  the  popular 
belief  that  the  history  of  mankind  had  been  one 
long  process  of  degeneration;  on  the  contrary, 
they  pictured  it  as  a  gradual  rise  in  the  arts  of 
civilization.  This  process  produced  its  pains 
and  its  pleasures,  but  the  latter  would  pre- 
dominate if  man  would  only  learn  to  live  each 
day  wisely  and  well,  ehminating  from  his  mind 


44  The  Millennial  Hope 

all  traditional  religious  errors.  The  greatest 
curse  on  mortals  was  their  inherited  fear  of  the 
gods  and  their  dread  of  death,  both  notions 
being  wholly  erroneous  according  to  Epicurean 
teaching.  Since  the  soul  did  not  survive  the 
body,  death  was  not  to  be  feared,  and  since  the 
gods  had  absolutely  no  part  in  the  affairs  of 
man,  present  evils  belonged  to  the  strictly 
human  sphere.  Under  these  circumstances  con- 
ditions could  be  bettered  only  through  the 
activity  of  better  men  in  the  present  age, 
the  primary  instrument  for  betterment  being 
the  cultivation  of  correct  philosophical  thought. 
The  most  influential  school  of  philosophy  in 
the  early  Roman  Empire  was  that  of  the  Stoics. 
Their  ideas  regarding  the  present  world-struggle 
and  its  outcome  are  composite  in  character. 
Stoicism  retained  the  traditional  picture  of  an 
ideal  past  when  mankind  lived  free  from  care 
and  pleasing  to  God.  Man's  fall  from  this 
ideal  state  is  ascribed  to  his  own  acts.  At  first 
he  remained  close  to  nature  and  was  a  tiller  of 
the  soil;  he  was  an  utter  stranger  to  city  life 
with  its  greed  for  gain  and  the  consequent  strife 
arising  between  men  and  nations.  Ascent  in 
so-called  civilization  had  really  meant  decline 
in  happiness  and  morals.     When  the  first  sword 


Gentile  Hopes  45 

was  forged  and  the  first  ship  built,  man  started 
upon  that  downward  course  which  ultimately 
plunged  him  into  wars,  led  him  to  undertake 
perilous  journeys  upon  the  sea,  and  engendered 
every  form  of  jealousy,  hatred,  passion,  and  vice. 

The  only  way  of  escape  from  the  evils  of 
modern  decadent  times  was  said  to  be  a  return 
to  the  simple  life  of  nature.  The  Stoic  preacher 
strenuously  urged  his  contemporaries  to  apply 
this  panacea  for  the  healing  of  their  own  per- 
sonal ills.  They  were  personally  responsible  for 
the  outcome  of  this  effort,  but  the  success  of  the 
struggle  was  partially  guaranteed  by  the  pres- 
ence in  their  lives  of  a  divine  power — an  inher- 
ent spark  of  Deity — which  God  had  placed  in 
every  man's  breast  at  birth.  The  hope  of 
humanity  lay  in  living  true  to  the  inward  light. 
This  ideal,  if  pursued,  would  result  in  the  sup- 
pression of  present  evil,  the  purification  of  the 
world,  and  a  life  of  ideal  happiness. 

If  this  program  could  have  been  carried  out, 
man  might  have  been  able  to  inaugurate  his 
own  "millennium."  But  the  Stoic  did  not 
really  believe  that  this  ideal  was  capable  of  full 
realization  under  present  conditions.  The  goal 
was  not  to  be  reached  by  an  evolutionary 
process  slowly  leading  back  to  primitive  ideal 


46  The  Millennial  Hope 

conditions;  on  the  contrary,  it  was  to  be  at- 
tained by  means  of  a  cosmic  catastrophe  which 
would  resolve  the  present  world  into  its  primal 
constituent  elements,  from  which  there  would 
arise  a  new  world  where  the  Age  of  Gold  would 
be  restored. 

Since  Stoic  teachers  adopted  the  theory  of 
cosmic  cycles,  their  new  world  would  not  retain 
its  perfection  eternally.  The  same  forces  of 
deterioration  that  had  wrought  havoc  in  the 
past  would  again  appear.  Although  everything 
had  been  newly  created  in  innocence  in  order 
that  no  remnant  might  be  left  to  tutor  men  in 
vice,  yet  the  new  race  would  soon  decline.  As 
Seneca  dolefully  remarks,  vice  quickly  creeps  in, 
while  virtue  is  difficult  to  find;  she  needs  a  ruler 
and  a  guide,  but  vice  can  be  acquired  without  a 
tutor.'  Hence  Stoic  philosophy  offered  at  best 
only  a  temporary  release  from  evil — a  release  to 
be  partially  attained  by  the  individual  through 
his  own  efforts  in  living  true  to  nature,  and  to  be 
exhibited  from  time  to  time  in  the  eternal  cosmic 
process  which  periodically  brought  about  world- 
dissolution  and  world-renewal. 

This  survey  of  gentile  attempts  to  solve  the 
problem  both  of  the  world's  destiny  and  of 

» Natural  Questions  iii.  30.  7. 


Gentile  Hopes  47 

man's  relation  to  the  ills  of  life  shows  how  gen- 
erally the  ancients  depreciate  the  significance  of 
actual  human  effort.  There  is  a  prevalent  tend- 
ency to  trust  almost  exclusively  in  special  super- 
natural intervention  for  the  hope  of  deliverance 
from  evil.  Even  when  the  hope  seems  on  the 
point  of  realization  under  some  beneficent  ruler, 
he  is  given  supernatural  credentials  as  a  means 
of  guaranteeing  his  validity.  Where  direct 
supernatural  aid  is  rejected,  reliance  is  placed 
upon  the  arbitrary  workings  of  a  superior  cosmic 
process,  and  thus  again  the  significance  of  the 
human  struggle  is  virtually  denied. 


CHAPTER  II 

HEBREW  AND  JEWISH  HOPES 

The  Hebrew  people  were  particularly  sen- 
sitive to  the  presence  of  hostile  forces  in  their 
world.  The  pressure  of  life's  ills  was  felt  by 
them  even  more  keenly  than  by  many  of  their 
gentile  neighbors.  They  also  believed  that  a 
final  triumph  for  humanity  would  be  secured 
only  through  the  special  intervention  of  Deity. 
In  fact,  rarely  or  never  did  any  neighboring 
peoples  hold  so  tenaciously  as  did  the  Jews  to 
the  hope  of  a  glorious  divine  deliverance. 
Throughout  a  long  period  of  years  they  suffered 
repeated  misfortunes,  but  each  new  calamity 
seemed  only  to  strengthen  their  confidence  in 
the  coming  of  a  better  day  when  their  present 
unhappy  condition  would  be  completely  re- 
versed. 

I 

By  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era  Jewish 
hopes  had  passed  through  a  long  period  of 
growth.  The  beginnings  of  this  process  are 
veiled  in  obscurity,  but  very  possibly  there  had 

48 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  49 

been  a  time  when  the  ancestors  of  the  Jews,  Hke 
most  other  peoples  in  that  ancient  world,  had 
depicted  their  fears  and  hopes  in  the  form  of 
myths  reflecting  a  dread  of  nature's  elemental 
forces  and  a  hope  of  victory  to  be  secured  by 
the  help  of  Deity.  In  historical  times  the 
Hebrews  were  unique  in  their  efforts  to  bring 
all  supernatural  activities  under  the  control  of 
their  own  national  god,  Jehovah.  Conse- 
quently at  an  early  date  he  assumed  the  all- 
embracing  role  of  both  destroyer  and  deliverer. 

Jehovah  is  frequently  associated  with  the 
terrors  of  thunder,  lightning,  and  storm.  When 
angry,  he  speaks  in  the  roaring  tempest  or  in  the 
crashing  thunder,  and  the  flaming  lightning  is 
the  breath  of  his  nostrils.  He  is  also  the  god 
of  earthquake  and  volcanic  fire.  He  causes  the 
earth  to  tremble  and  shakes  the  mountains  to 
their  very  foundations.  At  times  his  anger 
burns  so  furiously  that  he  cleaves  asunder  the 
ground  and  melts  the  rocks  by  his  presence.  He 
vents  his  rage  upon  his  enemies  by  pouring 
forth  streams  of  burning  brimstone  which  utterly 
consume  everything  in  their  path. 

Pestilence,  death,  and  calamities  in  general 
were  thought  to  be  the  work  of  Jehovah.  He 
dragged  down  to  Sheol  whom  he  would,  and 


50  The  Millennial  Hope 

preserved  life  according  to  his  own  good  pleas- 
ure. He  let  loose  pests  upon  the  earth  to 
destroy  vegetation,  and  sent  ferocious  beasts  or 
poisonous  reptiles  to  afflict  mankind.  Drought, 
famine,  and  disease  were  his  instruments  for 
punishing  those  who  had  incurred  his  displeasure. 

While  unkind  nature  furnished  picturesque 
imagery  for  portraying  the  action  of  Jehovah's 
wrath,  the  assumption  of  a  unique  bond  of 
attachment  between  him  and  his  chosen  people 
must  have  constituted  a  substantial  basis  for 
the  hope  of  ultimate  escape  from  misery.  And 
considering  the  relatively  late  date  at  which  the 
Jews  stressed  the  joys  of  a  blessed  life  beyond 
the  grave,  the  type  of  hope  entertained  even  in 
very  early  times  would  probably  involve  some 
form  of  world-renewal  and  national  redemption. 

This  form  of  hope  is  reflected  in  popular 
legends  regarding  the  beginning  of  human  his- 
tory and  Hebrew  national  life.  The  notion  of 
the  decadencfe  of  humanity  so  widely  current 
among  ancient  peoples  appears  in  the  story  of 
the  creation  and  the  faU.  The  picture  of  prim- 
itive man  in  his  paradise  of  innocence  is  quickly 
foUowed  by  a  description  of  disobedience  result- 
ing in  his  expulsion  from  Eden.  Then  follows 
a  period  of  struggle  in  which  human  skill  slowly 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  51 

conquers  its  unfriendly  environment,  producing 
the  instruments  and  arts  of  early  civilization. 
But  these  attainments  are  not  thought  to  mark 
any  permanent  progress.  On  the  contrary,  evil 
increases  rapidly  upon  the  earth  until  the 
human  race  becomes  so  degenerate  as  to  incur 
destruction  by  a  flood. 

A  new  era  of  history  is  said  to  begin  with 
Noah,  through  whose  instrumentality  Jehovah 
preserved  the  life  of  the  world  and  showed  him- 
self the  savior  of  humanity.  But  as  Noah's 
descendants  spread  themselves  over  the  earth 
the  process  of  degeneration  began  anew  and 
continued  until  relieved  by  another  act  of  Jeho- 
vah. He  did  not  again  destroy  the  human 
race,  but  selected  therefrom  a  favored  individ- 
ual, Abraham,  who  was  to  become  the  father  of 
a  peculiar  people.  Thus  the  call  of  Abraham  as 
described  in  Hebrew  legends  marks  the  inaugura- 
tion of  another  era  in  the  history  of  human  hopes. 

The  ultimate  goal  of  human  desire  is  still  far 
in  the  future.  Jehovah  has  disclosed  his  inten- 
tion of  carrying  out  a  selective  program  of 
salvation,  but  the  consummation  of  the  new 
scheme  requires  time.  A  long  struggle  ensues, 
until  finally  the  forces  of  evil  become  so  master- 
ful that  they  threaten  the  complete  destruction 


52  The  Millennial  Hope 

of  Abraham's  descendants  who  are  now  enslaved 
in  the  land  of  Egypt.  Again  their  God  must 
intervene  to  rescue  his  people  and  rebuild  the 
shattered  structure  of  their  fallen  hopes.  Sal- 
vation is  effected  through  a  miraculous  deliv- 
erance from  Egyptian  bondage  and  is  confirmed 
by  a  new  revelation  of  the  divine  will  made  to 
Moses  on  Sinai. 

With  the  release  from  Egypt  and  the  giving 
of  the  law,  Hebrew  faith  saw  the  inauguration 
of  another  new  era  in  the  people's  history,  but  a 
long  period  of  waiting  elapsed  before  they 
effected  even  preliminary  possession  of  the 
promised  land.  And  after  they  crossed  its 
boundaries  it  seemed  much  less  fair  than  when 
they  had  viewed  it  from  afar,  imagining  that  it 
flowed  with  milk  and  honey.  The  struggles  of 
conquest  and  the  dangers  incident  to  contact 
with  the  older  Canaanitish  civilization  which 
the  Hebrews  supplanted  or  absorbed  made  this 
period  of  their  history  also  seem  to  fall  far  short 
of  the  ideal  which  had  been  foreshadowed  in  the 
revelation  to  Moses. 

With  the  portrayal  of  David  and  Solomon 
another  high- water  mark  is  reached  indicating  a 
new  era  of  divine  favor.  Once  more  Jehovah 
has  intervened,  anointing  a  king  to  rule  over 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  53 

his  people  and  to  bestow  prosperity  upon  the 
nation.  A  permanent  dwelling-place  for  the 
Deity  is  now  provided  in  Jerusalem,  and  the  na- 
tional hopes  seem  on  the  verge  of  full  reali- 
zation. But  evil  days  quickly  follow.  With 
Solomon's  death  his  kingdom  is  disrupted  with 
internal  strife,  and  in  succeeding  years  neigh- 
boring hostile  nations  harass  both  Israel  and 
Judah  until  at  last  the  people  are  utterly  crushed 
by  the  foreign  conqueror  or  carried  away  cap- 
tive into  Babylonia. 

II 

An  interesting  era  in  the  history  of  Hebrew 
hopes  begins  with  the  activity  of  the  pre-exilic 
prophets.  These  interpreters  of  the  national 
life  spoke  chiefly  of  impending  calamities. 
They  often  protested  vehemently  against  the 
popular  notion  that  Jehovah's  selection  of  the 
Hebrews  as  a  favored  race  eliminated  the  possi- 
bility of  national  disaster.  On  the  contrary, 
they  insisted  that  calamity  was  imminent,  hav- 
ing been  designed  by  Jehovah  himself  as  an 
expression  of  displeasure  with  the  very  people 
of  his  special  choice.  More  remarkable  still,  the 
prophets  sometimes  said  that  the  heathen  powers 
had  been  deliberately  selected  by  Jehovah  as 


54  The  Millennial  Hope 

his  instruments  for  the  punishment  of  the 
Hebrews.  From  ancient  times  earthquake, 
storm,  or  pestilence  had  served  to  express  the 
wrath  of  Deity,  but  now  the  menacing  heathen 
nations  were  alleged  to  be  his  chosen  instru- 
ments of  chastisement. 

As  in  the  case  of  Hesiod,^  it  was  a  conscious- 
ness of  social  ills  that  prompted  the  earliest 
prophets  to  reflect  upon  the  outcome  of  history. 
In  his  arraignment  of  the  evils  of  his  day,  Amos 
is  representative.  He  sees  the  poor  oppressed 
by  the  rich,  the  judges  sell  their  decisions,  the 
morals  of  the  people  are  corrupted,  and  religion 
has  degenerated  into  mere  rituahsm.  Amos  is 
confident  that  his  own  violent  revulsion  of  feel- 
ing toward  this  state  of  affairs  is  shared  by  God, 
who  will  surely  punish  his  people  for  their  sins. 
In  impassioned  language  the  prophet  repeats 
the  words  of  doom  pronounced  upon  Israel, 
"Smite  the  capitals,  that  the  thresholds  may 
shake;  and  break  them  in  pieces  on  the  head 
of  all  of  them;  and  I  will  slay  the  last  of  them 
with  the  sword :  there  shall  not  one  of  them  flee 
away,  and  there  shall  not  one  of  them  escape. ''"^ 

The  prophets  are  not  always  specific  in  their 
description  of   the  divine  vengeance.     Some- 

^  See  above,  p.  29.  }  Amos  9:1. 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  55 

times  they  speak  vaguely  of  a  time  when  Jeho- 
vah will  unleash  predatory  hordes  from  the 
remote  north  country  to  descend  upon  Palestine 
with  terrible  destruction,  or  else  a  mighty  con- 
course of  all  heathen  nations  will  move  with 
terrific  tumult  against  the  Hebrew  people. 
Apparently  these  terrors  are  themselves  merely 
preliminary  to  a  still  greater  catastrophe  to 
occur  with  the  coming  of  the  '^day  of  Jehovah." 
This  is  to  be  a  terrible  time  of  disaster  and  dark- 
ness from  which  men  shall  seek  in  vain  to 
escape:  "Neither  their  silver  nor  their  gold 
shall  be  able  to  deliver  them  in  the  day  of 
Jehovah's  wrath;  but  the  whole  land  shall  be 
devoured  by  the  fire  of  his  jealousy :  for  he  will 
make  an  end,  yea  a  terrible  end,  of  all  them  that 
dwell  in  the  land."^ 

Even  as  early  as  the  time  of  Amos  the  He- 
brews were  awaiting  the  advent  of  the  day  of 
Jehovah.  But  as  pictured  in  popular  expecta- 
tion this  momentous  day  was  to  issue  in  a 
complete  destruction  of  Israel's  enemies  and  a 
unique  display  of  Jehovah's  favor  for  his  chosen 
people.  Against  this  current  belief  Amos  raised 
an  insistent  protest.  He  declared  that  on  the 
impending  day  of  catastrophe  sinful  Israelites 

^Zeph.  1:18. 


56  The  Millennial  Hope 

would  suffer  equally  with  their  heathen  neigh- 
bors. To  him  it  seemed  sheer  folly  for  the 
people  to  desire  the  speedy  coming  of  the  day 
of  Jehovah.  In  their  present  state  of  wicked- 
ness it  could  mean  disaster  only.  It  would  be 
as  if  a  man  when  fleeing  from  a  lion  is  met  by  a 
bear,  or  on  going  into  the  house  for  safety  is 
bitten  by  a  serpent  hidden  in  the  crevices  of  the 
wall.  That  day  will  be  a  moment  of  great  dis- 
illusionment for  those  who  sit  at  ease  in  Zion 
and  think  themselves  secure  in  the  mountain  of 
Samaria. 

Amos  is  so  emphatic  in  his  pronouncement  of 
doom  that  hope  scarcely  looms  upon  his  horizon. 
Is  there  reaUy  no  silver  lining  to  the  storm  cloud 
of  disaster  that  lowers  in  his  sky  ?  He  is  famil- 
iar with  the  ancient  legends  depicting  Jehovah's 
choice  of  the  Hebrews  and  the  favors  bestowed 
upon  them  throughout  the  course  of  their 
history.  But  on  this  very  account  their  sinful 
conduct  seems  particularly  culpable.  Because 
they  have  broken  faith  with  Jehovah  his  anger 
burns  even  more  furiously  against  them  than 
against  other  peoples  with  whom  he  has  estab- 
lished no  unique  covenant.  Yet  hope  is  not 
completely  dead.  Disaster  may  still  be  averted, 
though  only  at  the  cost  of  strenuous  moral 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  57 

reform.  The  preaching  of  Amos  was  designed 
to  accompHsh  this  reform,  but  he  was  sadly 
disappointed.  The  leaders  of  the  people  ridi- 
culed him  for  his  righteous  zeal  and  scoffed  at 
his  predictions  of  disaster.  Whatever  hope  he 
may  have  retained  on  behalf  of  the  poor  and 
oppressed,  who  surely  were  entitled  to  some 
form  of  divine  vindication,  the  future  of  the 
nation  as  a  whole  seemed  exceedingly  precari- 
ous. The  fragments  of  the  children  of  Israel  to 
be  saved — if  such  an  outcome  can  be  called 
salvation — will  be  like  a  couple  of  legs  or  a  piece 
of  ear  recovered  by  a  shepherd  after  the  lion  has 
preyed  upon  his  flock. 

Hosea,  a  younger  contemporary  of  Amos,  was 
also  moved  by  the  social  and  religious  ills  of  his 
day  to  predict  impending  disaster.  When  de- 
scribed in  the  rhetorical  language  of  the  prophet, 
conditions  seem  most  deplorable:  ^' There  is  no 
truth,  nor  goodness,  nor  knowledge  of  God  in 
the  land.  There  is  nought  but  swearing  and 
breaking  faith,  and  killing,  and  stealing,  and 
committing  adultery."^  Falsehood,  perjury, 
avarice,  theft,  robbery,  murders,  drunkenness, 
idolatry,  and  political  intrigues  are  among  the 
sins  of  which  people,  rulers,  and  priests  are  alike 

^Hos.  4:1  f. 


58  The  Millennial  Hope 

guilty.  In  enumerating  the  immoralities  of  his 
day  Hosea  does  not  follow  Amos  in  stressing  the 
injustice  done  to  men,  but  emphasizes  the  sin 
against  Jehovah  involved  in  such  conduct. 
The  God  who  had  loved  the  Hebrew  nation  in 
its  infancy  and  delivered  it  from  bondage  in 
Egypt  has  now  been  forsaken  by  the  people  of 
his  choice  and  therefore  disaster  is  inevitable. 
Hosea  gives  no  detailed  description  of  the 
coming  catastrophe,  but  evidently  he  is  looking 
for  the  advent  of  the  day  of  Jehovah.  Recent 
international  events  had  made  it  possible  for 
him  to  be  somewhat  more  specific  than  Amos 
had  been  in  his  references  to  the  political  situa- 
tion. Yet  even  Hosea  is  uncertain  as  to  whether 
Assyria  or  Egypt  will  be  the  agent  chosen  by 
God  to  punish  Israel.  But  punishment  is  sure 
and  terrible:  ^'Therefore  am  I  unto  them  as  a 
lion;  as  a  leopard  will  I  watch  by  the  way;  I 
will  meet  them  as  a  bear  that  is  bereaved  of  her 
whelps,  and  will  rend  the  caul  of  their  heart; 
and  there  will  I  devour  them  like  a  lioness;  the 
wild  beast  shall  tear  them."'  Although  the 
divine  anger  could  be  averted  by  repentance, 
Hosea  feels  as  did  Amos  that  the  response  to  his 
message  has  been  too  feeble  to  warrant  any 

'i3:7f. 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  59 

bright  outlook  for  the  future  of  the  nation. 
The  capital  city,  Samaria,  shall  be  laid  waste  in 
punishment  for  her  rebellion  against  God.  Her 
men  shall  be  given  to  the  sword,  her  infants 
shall  be  dashed  in  pieces  to  the  ground,  and  her 
women  shall  be  massacred. 

The  fears  of  Amos  and  Hosea  had  been  aroused 
by  conditions  in  the  Northern  Kingdom.  A 
few  years  later  similar  conditions  in  Judea 
awakened  new  prophetic  voices.  In  his  revolt 
against  the  social  and  religious  ills  of  his  day, 
Micah  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  Amos. 
He  severely  upbraids  the  rulers  for  their  iniq- 
uitous conduct.  They  lay  schemes  to  deprive 
men  of  lands  and  houses,  women  are  robbed  of 
their  inheritance,  and  children  are  sold  into 
slavery.  In  the  picturesque  language  of  the 
prophet  the  rulers  are  said  to  ''eat  the  flesh  of 
my  people,  and  flay  their  skins  from  off  them, 
and  break  their  bones,  and  chop  them  in  pieces, 
as  for  the  pot,  and  as  flesh  within  the  caldron."' 
Even  religious  leaders  join  in  the  pursuit  of 
wealth  and  in  the  oppression  of  the  poor. 

To  Micah's  sensitive  soul  these  enormities 
seem  to  demand  a  mighty  outburst  of  divine 
wrath  upon  Judah.     Self-satisfied  individuals 


6o  The  Millennial  Hope 

were  affirming  that  no  evil  could  befall  them. 
Since  they  were  Jehovah's  chosen  people,  he  was 
in  their  midst  and  insured  their  safety.  Micah 
meets  this  smug  confidence  with  a  bold  decla- 
ration of  impending  disaster.  Not  only  will 
Samaria  be  razed  to  her  very  foundations,  but, 
because  the  religious  leaders  have  proved  false 
to  their  trust,  even  Jerusalem,  where  the  holy 
temple  stands,  shall  be  made  desolate,  and  Zion 
shall  be  plowed  as  a  field.  It  is  quite  prob- 
able that  Micah  regarded  the  threatening 
Assyrian  armies  as  Jehovah's  destined  instru- 
ment of  destruction. 

Of  future  hope  Micah  has  nothing  to  say. 
When  Jehovah's  anger  has  spent  itself  on 
sinners  in  Judah,  will  the  innocent  have  per- 
ished along  with  the  guilty?  It  seems  as 
necessary  for  Micah  as  for  Amos  to  expect  some 
form  of  divine  vindication  for  those  who  had 
been  unjustly  oppressed.  Nor  is  it  easy  to 
imagine  that  a  prophet  could  have  abandoned 
completely  his  fathers'  time-honored  faith  in 
Jehovah's  care  for  his  chosen  people.  It  might 
become  necessary  to  purge  them  in  the  refining 
furnace  of  terrible  affliction,  but  the  thought  of 
utter  annihilation  is  hardly  conceivable.  Bad 
government,  a  corrupt  social  order,  and  degrad- 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  6i 

ing  religious  practices  might  be  wiped  out,  along 
with  all  persons  responsible  for  this  unhappy 
condition  of  things,  but  it  would  be  quite  an- 
other matter  to  cut  off  completely  every  child 
of  the  covenants  which  had  been  made  with 
Abraham  and  Moses. 

Isaiah  seems  to  have  taken  a  keener  interest 
in  politics  than  did  his  contemporary,  Micah. 
Yet  in  the  case  of  Isaiah  also  the  fundamental 
incentive  for  prophetic  activity  was  a  feeling  of 
sharp  revolt  against  current  social  and  moral 
ills.  When  Jehovah  looks  for  justice  he  finds 
only  oppression.  The  rich  landowners  enlarge 
their  estates  by  crowding  out  the  small  farmers. 
Surrounded  by  luxury,  the  wealthy  revel  from 
early  morning  until  late  at  night.  The  chosen 
Hebrew  people,  nourished  and  reared  by  Jeho- 
vah, no  longer  yield  allegiance  to  him,  but  have 
given  themselves  over  to  iniquity.  They  have 
despised  the  holy  one  of  Israel,  they  have  be- 
come estranged  and  degenerate.  Judges,  rulers, 
priests,  and  professional  prophets  are  equally 
guilty.  The  elders  and  princes  have  devoured 
the  vineyard  and  crushed  the  needy;  it  is 
impossible  for  poor  men,  widows,  or  orphans  to 
obtain  just  decisions  in  the  law  courts;  and  in 
vain  do  priests  multiply  sacrifices  and  prophets 


62  The  Millennial  Hope 

utter  smooth  words  while  the  masses  remain 
uninstructed  in  the  ways  of  true  righteous- 
ness. 

Isaiah  is  confident  that  his  own  hatred  for 
the  wicked  deeds  of  the  people  is  but  an  echo  of 
the  divine  displeasure.  To  the  self-satisfied 
leaders  who  call  for  the  speedy  advent  of  the 
day  of  Jehovah,  the  prophet  announces  impend- 
ing doom.  In  that  day  the  proud  and  haughty 
shall  be  humbled,  while  God  alone  shall  be 
exalted.  Terrified  by  his  glory,  men  shall  flee 
from  his  presence,  seeking  refuge  in  the  clefts  of 
the  rocks  and  the  caves  of  the  earth.  Drastic 
punishment  is  to  fall  both  upon  Israel  and  upon 
Judah.  From  Israel  Jehovah  will  cut  off  ''head 
and  tail,  palm  branch  and  rush  in  one  day''; 
the  people  will  be  consumed  as  fuel  in  the  fur- 
nace and  the  land  itself  shall  be  burned  up.  Or, 
changing  the  figure,  the  Lord  will  swoop  down 
upon  drunken  Ephraim  like  a  destructive  hail- 
storm with  a  mighty  flood  of  waters,  leveling 
everything  in  its  pathway.  A  like  fate  awaits 
the  sinners  of  Judah,  upon  whom  Jehovah  will 
pour  out  the  purging  fires  of  his  wrath,  for 
"Jerusalem  is  ruined  and  Judah  is  fallen" 
as  a  result  of  their  words  and  deeds  against 
their  God. 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  63 

In  the  political  disturbances  of  his  environ- 
ment Isaiah  detected  the  avenging  hand  of  God. 
The  coalition  of  Syria  and  Israel  against  Judah 
in  735,  the  triumph  of  the  Assyrians  over  the 
Northern  Kingdom  in  721,  Judah 's  fear  of 
Egypt  on  the  one  hand  and  of  Assyria  on  the 
other,  and  particularly  the  invasion  of  Judea  by 
Sennacherib  in  701,  were  impressive  items  in 
Isaiah's  experience.  At  one  time  he  declares 
that  the  Syrians  in  front  and  the  Philistines  in 
the  rear  shall  devour  Israel  with  open  mouth; 
and  again  he  thinks  that  both  capitals,  Damas- 
cus and  Samaria,  shall  be  despoiled  by  the 
Assyrians.  Nor  is  Judah  to  escape  unscathed. 
Jehovah  will  send  the  Assyrian  against  Judah 
and  her  idols  as  well  as  against  Samaria.  The 
foreign  conquerors  shall  be  empowered  to  take 
vengeance  upon  the  profane  nation,  spoiling  its 
treasures  and  treading  down  its  citizens  like 
mire  in  the  streets.  Again,  the  prophet  speak- 
ing for  Jehovah  declares  that  God  will  summon 
distant  nations  to  act  as  his  instruments  for 
punishment.  Immediately  they  will  respond 
with  arrows  ready  upon  the  string.  The  hoofs 
of  the  horses  shall  be  as  flint,  and  the  chariots 
shall  move  with  the  speed  of  the  whirlwind. 
The  noise  will  be  as  the  roar  of  the  lion  or  the 


64  The  Millennial  Hope 

resounding  of  the  deep,  and  there  will  be  no 
escape  from  the  terrors  of  that  destructive  on- 
slaught. 

Does  the  consuming  zeal  of  the  prophet's 
denunciation  leave  any  room  for  hope  ?  Since 
he  pleads  with  his  hearers  to  forsake  their  evil 
ways  and  to  walk  in  the  paths  of  righteousness, 
certainly  the  possibility  of  salvation  must  be 
assumed.  But  in  a  more  pessimistic  mood, 
when  stung  by  disappointment  at  the  seeming 
failure  of  his  mission,  Isaiah  affirms  that  God 
has  designedly  dulled  the  understanding  and 
blinded  the  eyes  of  the  people  lest  they  should 
repent  and  be  saved.  There  is  no  escape  for  the 
nation  in  its  present  state  of  social,  political,  and 
religious  decay.  Yet  the  prophet  has  a  band 
of  faithful  disciples  who  perpetuate  his  teaching 
and  confidently  wait  for  Jehovah  to  act.'  Are 
not  they,  and  others  who  have  been  innocently 
oppressed  by  wicked  rulers,  to  escape  the  na- 
tional wreck?  It  is  difficult  to  imagine  that 
Isaiah  could  have  thought  otherwise.  Indeed, 
in  the  midst  of  his  vivid  description  of  the  ter- 
rible doom  to  overtake  sinners  in  Jerusalem,  he 
incidentally  refers  to  the  safety  of  those  who 
trust  in  Jehovah  and  the  sure  foundation  stone 

^8:i6-i8. 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  65 

laid  by  him  in  Zion.  When  the  poHticians  seek 
to  insure  the  future  of  the  nation  by  means  of 
alHances  with  Assyria  or  Egypt,  Isaiah  counsels 
trust  in  Jehovah  as  the  only  source  of  safety. 
Failure  to  heed  this  advice  must  result  in  utter 
destruction  of  the  corrupt  political  and  social 
regime,  but  surely  the  select  few  who  remain 
loyal  to  God  will  be  delivered.  When  the  fiery 
trial  is  passed,  a  new  order  of  just  judges  and 
counselors  like  to  those  of  former  days  will  be 
established  and  Zion  shall  be  called  "the  city  of 
righteousness."^ 

Zephaniah  and  Jeremiah  followed  in  the  foot- 
steps of  Isaiah.  Zephaniah  directed  his  polemic 
especially  against  the  foreign  religious  practices 
current  among  the  Hebrews.  Jerusalem  is 
termed  a  rebellious  and  polluted  city,  no  longer 
trusting  in  Jehovah.  Her  princes  and  judges 
devour  on  every  hand,  her  professional  prophets 
make  light  of  their  calling,  and  her  priests  pro- 
fane the  sanctuary.  Therefore  Jehovah  will 
wreak  awful  vengeance  upon  the  disobedient 
people. 

Jeremiah  is  similarly  emphatic  in  his  denun- 
ciation of  contemporary  evils.  He  affirms  that 
rulers   and   princes   are   guilty  of  gross  sins, 

^ I : 24-26. 


66  The  Millennial  Hope 

falsehood  and  deceit  are  rife  among  priests  and 
prophets,  worship  of  strange  gods  fills  the  land, 
and  a  desire  for  political  aUiances  with  Eg}^t  or 
with  Assyria  shows  lack  of  faith  in  Jehovah.  In 
opposition  to  the  current  belief  that  all  is  well 
because  the  Hebrews  are  divinely  chosen,  Jere- 
miah asserts  not  only  that  their  immoralities 
have  canceled  the  alleged  unique  obligations  of 
God  to  them,  but  that  he  has  actually  deter- 
mined upon  their  destruction.  Before  his  fierce 
anger  all  the  fields  shall  be  laid  waste  and  all  the 
cities  shall  perish. 

The  new  element  of  terror  projected  into  that 
ancient  world  by  the  activities  of  Scythian 
hordes  seems  to  have  intensified  the  sense  of 
impending  disaster  both  for  Zephaniah  and  for 
Jeremiah.  The  latter  also  lived  to  see  Baby- 
lonian pressure  upon  Judea  grow  so  intense  that 
the  downfall  of  the  nation  became  inevitable. 
Under  these  circumstances  it  was  not  strange 
that  he  should  be  the  gloomiest  of  all  the  gloomy 
prophets.  Apparently  he  did  not  anticipate  a 
favorable  hearing  for  his  message,  nor  is  he 
reserved  in  his  sweeping  pronouncements  of 
doom  upon  the  nation.  Yet  he  certainly  enter- 
tains a  firm  future  hope,  especially  for  the 
earlier  exiles  who  had  been  carried  off  to  Baby- 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  67 

Ionia  in  597  B.C.  Their  deliverance  is  yet  a 
long  way  off,  and  in  the  meantime  drastic 
punishment  will  be  meted  out  to  the  remnant 
of  the  nation  left  in  Judea.  But  ultimately 
Jehovah  will  assemble  his  faithful  captive  people 
from  among  the  nations  and  restore  them  to 
their  inheritance.' 

In  their  attitude  toward  contemporary  cul- 
ture there  is  a  striking  similarity,  notwith- 
standing fundamental  differences,  between  the 
ancient  Hebrew  prophets  and  the  later  Stoics. 
The  Stoic  deplored  the  suffering  brought  upon 
mankind  by  commercial  and  political  activities. 
The  present  order  of  society  seemed  to  him  to 
be  a  sad  deterioration  from  conditions  of  an 
earlier  time  when  men  had  lived  close  to  nature. 
And  the  only  hope  of  deliverance  from  present 
degenerate  ways  lay  in  an  approaching  cosmic 
catastrophe.  Similarly  the  ancient  prophets 
condemned  the  new  structure  of  society  which 
had  grown  up  among  the  Hebrews  after  their 
migration  from  the  desert  into  the  more  arti- 
ficial environment  of  Canaan.  In  their  new 
surroundings  the  people  learned  commercial 
greed,  they  instituted  rivalry  between  rich 
and  poor,  rehgious  ceremonies  became  more 

^24:1-10;  25:8-14;  29:1-32. 


68  The  Millennial  Hope 

elaborate  and  more  formal,  the  administration 
of  justice  was  less  certain,  political  schemes  in- 
fected both  domestic  and  foreign  relationships — 
in  short,  the  unsophisticated  life  of  the  nomad 
was  gradually  giving  way  to  a  new  social  order 
which  invited  the  exercise  of  human  initiative  in 
many  new  fields. 

Every  fresh  experiment  in  cultural  develop- 
ment necessarily  liberates  both  good  and  evil 
forces.  New  skill,  new  wealth,  new  knowledge, 
and  new  power  are  equally  capable  of  use  or  of 
abuse,  and  the  latter  often  seems  to  run  far  in 
advance  of  the  former.  So  it  seemed  to  the 
ancient  Hebrew  prophets  before  whose  eyes  the 
evils  of  their  day  loomed  so  large  that  all  possi- 
bilities of  good  in  the  new  national  experience 
were  almost  completely  obscured.  Help  was 
not  sought  in  any  gradual  process  of  reform 
designed  to  offset  new  evils  by  means  of  new 
forces  of  righteousness.  To  be  sure,  the 
prophets  were  most  vigorous  in  demanding 
individual  moral  reform,  but  their  program  was 
essentially  a  return  to  the  standards  of  earlier 
days.  When  they  found  themselves  unable  to 
turn  the  stream  of  the  national  life  back  upon 
its  course,  they  looked  for  relief  through  a 
mighty  act  of  divine  intervention.    Jehovah 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  69 

would  completely  destroy  the  new  degenerate 
civilization  and  restore  the  old  ideal  order. 

As  viewed  by  the  prophet,  his  chief  duty  was 
to  upbraid  sinners  and  announce  impending 
doom.  Consequently  his  hopes  for  the  future 
of  the  people  are  usually  implied  rather  than 
clearly  expressed.  Apparently  no  remnant  of 
the  national  life  as  organized  at  present  is  to 
survive.  Hosea  sees  no  hope  of  salvation  in 
kings  or  princes  whom  God  gave  to  Israel  in  his 
wrath  and  takes  away  in  his  fury,  and  Isaiah 
looks  forward  to  the  restoration  of  a  former 
condition  when  judges  and  counselors  admin- 
ister the  government  in  primitive  simplicity. 
Jehovah  had  not  abandoned  his  people  even 
though  he  might  be  compelled  in  the  near  future 
to  annihilate  the  present  social  order.  Regard- 
ing the  details  of  the  new  order  as  they  lay  in  the 
imagination  of  the  prophet,  we  know  Httle  or 
nothing,  but  doubtless  current  myth  and  legend 
furnished  ample  imagery  for  constructing  a  very 
realistic  and  attractive  picture  of  a  new  theo- 
cratic community. 

Ill 

The  downfall  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah  in 
586  B.C.  marked  a  distinct  turning-point  in  the 


70  The  Millennial  Hope 

history  of  Hebrew  hopes.  Notwithstanding  the 
severity  of  the  national  catastrophe,  hope  still 
survived.  Neither  removal  from  Palestine  nor 
the  trying  experiences  of  subsequent  years  could 
shatter  the  confidence  of  the  Jews  in  the  ulti- 
mate triumph  of  their  God.  But  the  experi- 
ences of  the  post-exiHc  period  did  necessitate 
important  changes  both  in  the  form  and  in  the 
content  of  their  hope.  In  comparison  with  the 
vaguer  notions  of  earlier  times,  Jewish  thinking 
now  constructed  a  more  varied,  elaborate,  and 
doctrinaire  program  of  final  redemption  and 
world-renewal. 

Apparently  the  earlier  prophets  had  expected 
that  the  culmination  of  national  disaster  would 
either  coincide  with,  or  immediately  precede, 
the  coming  of  the  day  of  Jehovah.  But,  as 
events  turned  out,  the  victory  of  the  foreign 
conqueror  was  not  attended  by  any  unusual 
cosmic  display.  The  day  of  Jehovah  still 
remained  to  be  revealed  in  the  future.  The 
opinion  of  Amos  and  his  successors,  who  had 
pictured  this  day  as  the  hour  of  Israel's  doom, 
was  now  superseded  by  the  older  and  more 
popular  belief  that  it  would  be  the  moment  of 
Israel's  vindication.  Jehovah  was  still  a  God 
of  terror,  and  the  present  world  was  doomed  to 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  71 

disaster,  but  surely  the  chosen  people  had  al- 
ready suffered  their  share  of  calamity.  They 
were  more  confident  than  ever  before  that  the 
end  would  bring  affliction  for  Gentiles  but 
exaltation  for  Jews.  Preparation  for  this  an- 
ticipated event  and  speculation  regarding  the 
details  of  the  program  now  engaged  the  atten- 
tion of  various  leaders. 

Even  with  the  downfall  of  the  nation  the 
destructive  work  of  Jehovah  is  not  finished, 
nor  will  it  be  at  an  end  until  the  final  day  of 
judgment  has  passed.  But  on  the  judgment 
day  he  will  vent  his  rage  mainly  upon  the 
Gentiles.  Sometimes  their  complete  annihila- 
tion was  anticipated,  while  at  other  times  de- 
struction was  planned  only  for  the  actual 
enemies  of  Jehovah's  people.  As  would  be 
expected,  the  doom  of  Babylon  was  portrayed 
in  lurid  colors.  When  provision  was  made  for 
the  escape  of  certain  Gentiles  on  the  day  of 
final  disaster,  it  was  assumed  that  thereafter 
they  would  be  servants  of  the  Jews  and  wor- 
shipers of  Jehovah.  In  still  other  circles  more 
stress  was  placed  upon  the  conversion  of  the 
heathen,  not  merely  by  miraculous  interven- 
tion of  God,  but  by  the  missionary  eff'orts  of 
the  Jewish  people  in  the  days  preceding  the 


72  The  Millennial  Hope 

judgment.  But  ultimately  Israel's  triumph 
would  be  supreme  over  all  the  earth. 

It  was  assumed  that  the  Jews  also  must 
suffer  further  agony  while  waiting  for  the  fulfil- 
ment of  their  hopes.  A  final  outburst  of  hos- 
tility on  the  part  of  their  heathen  enemies  was 
to  be  expected.  In  addition  to  their  old  foes 
from  Egypt  and  Babylonia,  new  attacking 
armies  led  by  the  mythical  Gog  were  to  appear 
in  the  last  days.  Nature,  too,  would  become 
more  hostile  and  refuse  to  yield  her  accustomed 
fruits.  Jehovah's  fire  would  burn  up  fields  and 
forests,  leaving  both  men  and  beasts  without 
shelter  and  without  food.  Frightful  natural 
phenomena  would  add  to  the  agony  as  the  sun 
grew  dark  and  the  moon  turned  red  like  blood. 

The  execution  of  judgment  was  to  be  a  terror 
to  Jews  as  well  as  to  Gentiles.  Post-exilic 
teachers  agreed  with  the  early  prophets  in  main- 
taining that  mere  ancestry  would  not  deliver 
the  sinful  Israelites.  Jehovah  would  provide 
ample  opportunity  for  repentance,  even  sending 
Elijah  back  to  earth  to  admonish  the  people, 
but  unrepentant  Jews  as  well  as  Gentiles  would 
perish  in  the  day  of  judgment.  That  great 
assize  will  mean  a  final  sifting  even  for  Israel, 
when  the  wicked  will  be  burned  as  stubble, 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  73 

while  upon  the  faithful  the  sun  of  righteousness 
shall  rise  with  healing  in  its  beams. 

The  restoration  of  the  captives  to  Palestine 
was  the  outstanding  item  in  the  hope  of  post- 
exilic  Judaism.  This  was  to  be  a  glorious  tri- 
umph accomplished  by  the  direct  intervention 
of  Jehovah,  who  would  summon  his  children 
from  the  north,  from  the  south,  from  the  east, 
and  from  the  west,  bringing  them  back  to  the 
land  of  their  ancestors.^  When  hope  grows  dim 
with  weary  years  of  waiting,  a  new  prophet 
comes  forward  with  a  message  of  comfort  and 
assurance,  declaring  again  that  the  time  is  at 
hand  when  the  glory  of  Jerusalem  is  about  to  be 
restored.  Jehovah  will  lead  the  exiles  back 
from  captivity  through  the  wilderness  by  a  mar- 
velous highway  miraculously  prepared.  Every 
valley  shall  be  filled  up,  every  mountain  and 
hill  shall  be  thrown  down,  and  all  rough  places 
shall  be  converted  into  a  smooth  plain  for  the 
passage  of  the  returning  exiles  back  to  Zion, 
where  ''everlasting  joy  shall  be  upon  their 
heads. "^  As  the  earlier  prophets  had  longed  for 
the  restoration  of  ideal  nomadic  conditions,  so 
the  prophets  of  the  exile  turned  wistfully  toward 
their  more  immediate  past  and  proclaimed  the 

^ Ezek.  36:24-28.  2 isa.  35:8-10;  40:1-11. 


74  The  Millennial  Hope 

coming  of  the  day  when  the  ideahzed  national 
life  of  Palestine  would  be  restored. 

In  depicting  the  anticipated  glory  of  the 
restored  nation,  pious  imagination  rose  to  dizzy 
heights.  The  new  age  was  to  witness  a  miracu- 
lous transformation  of  the  land  of  Palestine. 
The  hill  of  Zion,  capped  by  a  magnificent  new 
temple,  would  rise  conspicuously  above  the 
surrounding  country.  All  hills  and  ravines 
would  be  converted  into  one  vast  plain,  sloping 
away  in  every  direction  from  the  Holy  City. 
From  Jerusalem  there  would  flow  forth  streams 
of  living  water  both  eastward  and  westward 
throughout  summer  and  winter.  All  waste 
places  were  to  be  made  fruitful,  and  the  whole 
land  would  yield  spontaneously  an  abundance 
of  all  good  things.  The  very  mountains  would 
drip  with  sweet  wine,  unlimited  supplies  of 
butter  and  honey  would  be  found  in  every  man's 
larder,  both  priests  and  people  would  be  sated 
with  fatness. 

Jerusalem  was  to  be  rebuilt  in  great  magnifi- 
cence. The  devastated  city  would  rise  so 
gloriously  from  its  ashes  that  no  vestige  of 
former  humiliation  would  remain.  The  decora- 
tions of  the  city  were  to  be  provided  by  Jehovah 
himself:  "I  will  set  thy  stones  in  fair  colors,  and 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  75 

lay  thy  foundations  in  sapphires,  and  I  will 
make  thy  pinnacles  of  rubies,  and  thy  gates  of 
carbuncles,  and  all  thy  border  of  precious 
stones.'"  Sun  and  moon  would  no  longer  serve 
the  city  for  light,  since  these  natural  luminaries 
would  be  outshone  by  the  radiance  of  Jehovah 
dweUing  in  the  midst  of  his  people.  Under 
these  new  conditions  Jerusalem  would  enjoy 
fabulous  prosperity  as  commerce  and  trade  from 
all  parts  of  the  earth  streamed  through  its  gates. 
A  wonderful  transformation  of  humanity  is 
also  anticipated.  Jehovah  will  sprinkle  clean 
water  upon  his  people,  and  thus  purge  them  of 
all  evil.  Everyone  not  cleansed  shall  be  de- 
stroyed, and  nothing  unholy  will  come  into  the 
midst  of  the  renewed  community.  The  stony 
heart  is  to  be  replaced  by  a  heart  of  flesh,  upon 
which  Jehovah  will  write  his  law  in  indelible 
characters.  Henceforth  religious  instruction 
will  be  unnecessary,  for  instinctively  every  man 
from  the  least  unto  the  greatest  will  have  perfect 
knowledge  of  God.  A  new  divine  spirit  will  also 
take  possession  of  mankind.  This  divine  gift 
will  be  shared  by  all  the  people:  ''I  will  pour 
out  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh ;  and  your  sons  and 
your  daughters  shall  prophesy,  your  old  men 

^  Isa.  54:11  f. 


76  The  Millennial  Hope 

shall  dream  dreams,  your  young  men  shall  see 
visions:  and  also  upon  the  servants  and  upon 
the  handmaids  in  those  days  will  I  pour  out  my 
Spirit."^ 

Even  the  wild  beasts  will  be  included  in  the 
process  of  renewal.  All  ferocious  animals  and 
poisonous  reptiles  will  be  either  driven  away  or 
rendered  harmless  by  a  miraculous  transforma- 
tion. It  will  become  perfectly  safe  for  a  man 
to  tarry  in  the  wilderness  or  to  lie  down  to  sleep 
in  the  forest.  The  wolf  will  no  longer  devour 
the  lamb  nor  the  leopard  the  kid,  the  calf  will 
sport  fearlessly  with  the  young  of  the  lion,  and 
the  little  child  will  be  safe  in  their  presence. 
The  cow  and  the  bear  will  feed  peaceably  to- 
gether, and  the  lion  will  be  as  harmless  as  the 
ox.  Thus  does  knowledge  of  Jehovah  trans- 
form even  the  most  ferocious  of  the  wild  beasts. 

Society  will  also  be  completely  transformed. 
Injustice,  oppression,  hunger,  poverty,  sickness, 
and  all  other  ills  which  ordinarily  afBict  mor- 
tals will  find  no  place  in  the  new  social  order. 
Under  these  ideal  conditions  sorrow  will  flee 
away,  dispelled  by  perpetual  rejoicing  in  the 
blessings  of  the  new  age.  Life  will  be  so  greatly 
prolonged  that  he  who  dies  when  only  one 

»Joel^2:28£. 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  77 

hundred  years  of  age  shall  be  accounted  as  a 
youth  snatched  away  by  an  untimely  fate.  No 
man  will  be  put  out  of  his  possession  or  robbed 
of  his  reward,  but  everyone  shall  be  privileged 
to  enjoy  in  full  the  fruits  of  his  own  labor.  All 
men's  needs  will  be  anticipated  by  Jehovah; 
before  they  call  he  will  answer,  and  while  they 
are  yet  speaking  he  will  hear. 

Even  politics  will  undergo  a  complete  trans- 
formation. All  civic  and  international  affairs 
will  be  placed  upon  an  absolutely  ideal  basis. 
The  whole  world  will  be  ruled  from  Palestine 
with  Jerusalem  as  its  capital.  All  hostile  hea- 
then nations  will  be  annihilated  or  subdued,  and 
such  Gentiles  as  are  permitted  to  survive  will 
yield  unhesitating  obedience  to  the  new  Jewish 
regime.  The  new  government  will  be  adminis- 
tered by  a  vicegerent  whom  Jehovah  will  select 
and  especially  anoint  for  this  task.  This 
^^ Anointed  One,"  or  "Messiah,''  to  use  the 
Hebrew  word,  will  be  a  member  of  the  royal 
Davidic  line.  Since  remarkable  longevity  is  to 
characterize  the  new  order  of  existence,  the  first 
messianic  appointee  will  undoubtedly  hold  office 
for  many  years.  Yet  he  is  not  necessarily 
eternal.'    But  the  new  type  of  government  is  to 

*Ezek.  45:8;  46:16. 


78  The  Millennial  Hope 

be  permanent,  because  established  by  Jehovah 
himself,  and  it  will  remain  the  same  throughout 
eternity  whether  administered  by  a  single  prince 
or  by  a  legitimate  succession  of  anointed  rulers 
belonging  to  the  Davidic  house. 

The  new  theocratic  regime  is  to  be  one  of 
perfect  peace  and  righteousness.  Swords  will 
be  converted  into  plowshares,  and  spears  into 
pruning-hooks,  and  wars  will  forever  cease. 
The  regal  glory  of  Jehovah  will  be  exhibited  in 
surpassing  splendor,  but  his  messianic  vicege- 
rent will  be  less  ostentatiously  equipped.  Jus- 
tice and  salvation,  coupled  with  humility,  will 
be  his  distinctive  insignia  as  he  appears  at  the 
head  of  the  royal  procession  riding  upon  an 
ordinary  beast  of  burden.  Jehovah  will  estab- 
lish him  in  power  over  all  the  earth.  Hence- 
forth the  restored  throne  of  David  will  never 
lack  an  occupant  who  will  rule  justly  and  wisely, 
guided  by  the  unerring  divine  spirit  with  which 
he  has  been  abundantly  endowed. 

It  was  an  awe-inspiring  faith  that  dared  to 
paint  so  gorgeous  a  picture  of  the  restored  king- 
dom of  Palestine  to  which  the  waiting  exiles 
hoped  to  return.  The  grandeur  of  their  hope 
is  all  the  more  conspicuous  just  because  it 
soared  so  far  above  all  possibility  of  realization. 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  79 

After  half  a  century  the  conquest  of  Babylonia 
by  the  Persians  made  possible  the  return  of  a 
few  Jews,  and  this  event  stimulated  new 
national  aspirations.  But  the  return  did  not 
bring  the  hoped-for  day  of  Jehovah  when  the 
Jews'  enemies  were  to  be  destroyed  and  the 
land  and  people  miraculously  transformed. 

The  rehabilitation  of  the  shattered  nation  was 
found  to  be  a  much  more  difficult  task  and  more 
truly  dependent  upon  human  endeavor  than  the 
first  idealists  had  imagined.  Yet  hope  was  not 
abandoned,  although  readjustments  had  to  be 
made  to  meet  new  conditions.  Since  Jehovah 
had  disappointed  his  people,  his  failure  to  act 
was  taken  as  evidence  of  further  displeasure. 
Hence  an  effort  was  made  to  establish  Jewish 
life  upon  a  new  plane  of  holiness  consonant 
with  supposed  divine  requirements.  The  earlier 
prophets  had  stressed  right  moral  action,  to 
which  post-exilic  leaders  added  the  demand 
for  careful  ritualistic  observances.  Since  Jeho- 
vah had  not  restored  the  temple  by  his  own  act, 
the  people  inferred  that  its  rebuilding  by  them 
might  bring  the  desired  consummation  of  their 
hopes.  At  one  time  the  efforts  of  their  local 
prince  Zerubbabel  to  complete  the  temple  were 
thought  to  presage  the  advent  of  the  new  age 


8o  The  Millennial  Hope 

when  he  would  be  installed  in  the  messianic 
office,  restoring  the  royal  house  of  David.'  But 
even  in  this  reduced  form  the  early  messianic 
hope  was  not  realized.  Jehovah  did  not  inter- 
vene to  destroy  the  enemies  of  his  people  and  to 
make  the  Jewish  nation  supreme. 

IV 

Events  in  Palestine  during  the  early  part  of 
the  second  century  B.C.  gave  a  new  turn  to 
Jewish  hopes.  The  Persian  domination  of 
Western  Asia  had  been  supplanted  by  Greek 
supremacy  under  Alexander  and  his  successors. 
Palestine  now  belonged  to  the  territory  of  the 
Seleucids,  who  were  descended  from  one  of 
Alexander's  generals.  In  i68  B.C.  the  Seleucid 
ruler,  Antiochus  IV,  surnamed  Epiphanes,  de- 
termined to  break  down  the  narrow  spirit  of 
nationalism  fostered  among  the  Jews,  and  to 
make  them  more  truly  an  integral  part  of  his 
kingdom.  As  a  means  to  this  end  he  made  it  a 
penal  offense  to  perpetuate  Jewish  religious 
rites.  Heathen  observances  were  introduced 
throughout  the  land,  an  altar  to  Zeus  was 
erected  in  the  temple  inclosure,  and  there  a  sow 
was  sacrificed  on  December  25,  168  B.C.,  thus 

*  Hag.  2:20-23. 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  8i 

desecrating  the  one  spot  on  earth  most  sacred 
to  every  true  Jew. 

The  Book  of  Daniel  was  written  to  interpret 
these  new  experiences  and  to  cheer  the  faithful 
in  their  dark  hour  of  distress.  The  author 
employs  a  comparatively  new  method  for  ac- 
complishing his  purpose,  thereby  contributing 
some  significant  new  items  to  the  formal  devel- 
opment of  Jewish  hopes. 

The  literary  method  of  the  author  of  Daniel 
is  that  of  the  so-called  apocal3^tic  writers  who 
present  their  convictions  and  teachings  in  the 
form  of  visions  or  revelations.  These  disclo- 
sures may  be  made  in  the  author's  own  name  or 
in  the  name  of  some  ancient  worthy  to  whom 
God  is  supposed  to  have  revealed  long  ago  the 
ultimate  outcome  of  world-history.  The  writer 
of  Daniel  adopts  the  latter  of  these  two  literary 
forms,  and  presents  his  message  in  terms  of  the 
trying  experiences  and  triumphant  faith  of  the 
Babylonian  exiles  of  earlier  days.  But  his 
contemporaries  suffering  under  the  cruel  oppres- 
sions of  Antiochus  would  have  no  difficulty  in 
discovering  that  the  author's  words  reflected 
their  own  trying  situation. 

The  writer  of  Daniel  offers  a  bold  solution 
for  the  ills  of  his  day.     First  he  encourages  his 


82  The  Millennial  Hope 

readers  to  remain  loyal  to  the  sacred  traditions 
for  which  they  are  being  persecuted,  remember- 
ing that  Jehovah's  reward  is  sure.  Then  in  a 
series  of  four  visions  the  seer  is  divinely  in- 
structed regarding  the  whole  course  of  history 
and  its  ultimate  outcome.  In  his  first  vision  he 
sees  four  great  beasts  typical  of  four  great 
world-powers.  The  first  beast,  like  a  lion  with 
vulture's  wings,  represents  the  Babylonian 
Empire.  The  second  beast  is  a  bear,  identified 
by  the  author  with  the  kingdom  of  the  Medes. 
Then  comes  a  third  beast,  resembling  a  leopard 
and  typifying  the  Persian  rule.  The  fourth 
beast,  Alexander  and  his  successors,  cannot  be 
identified  with  any  known  earthly  animal.  It 
is  a  terrible  creature  with  teeth  of  iron  and  claws 
of  brass.  It  has  ten  horns,  and  as  the  seer  looks 
upon  it  an  eleventh  horn,  more  terrible  than  the 
others,  quickly  springs  up.  This  eleventh  horn, 
with  its  human  eyes  and  mouth  and  boastful 
speech,  represents  the  persecutor  Antiochus, 
whom  the  author  reckons  as  the  eleventh  king 
of  the  Seleucid  line. 

Presently  Daniel  is  favored  with  another 
vision  depicting  the  final  judgment.  God 
appears  in  the  likeness  of  an  aged  man  clothed 
in  white,  riding  upon  a  chariot  of  fire,  and  sur- 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  83 

rounded  by  a  host  of  angels.  These  events 
happen  while  the  eleventh  horn  is  still  carrying 
on  his  depredations  against  Jehovah's  people. 
But  the  divine  punishment  is  speedy.  The 
fourth  beast,  that  is,  the  Greek  dynasty  to 
which  Antiochus  belongs,  is  slain  and  devoured 
by  fire,  an  especially  severe  punishment  being 
meted  out  to  the  eleventh  horn.  After  this 
judgment  has  passed,  a  new  figure  appears  upon 
the  scene,  a  being  in  the  likeness  of  mankind  who 
is  wafted  upon  the  clouds  into  the  presence  of 
God.  This  '^  one  like  a  son  of  man ''  typifies  the 
new  kingdom  of  the  Jewish  people  to  whom 
Jehovah  now  gives  universal  dominion.  The 
particulars  of  this  vision  are  explained  to  Daniel 
by  an  angel,  who  intimates  that  the  day  of  final 
judgment  is  near  at  hand.  Just  three  and  a 
half  years  from  the  time  that  Antiochus  dese- 
crated the  temple  in  168  B.C.  the  end  of  the 
present  world  is  to  come  and  the  new  ideal  order 
is  to  be  established. 

Daniel's  third  vision  merely  repeats  in  dif- 
ferent imagery  his  previous  message.  He  sees 
a  ram  with  two  horns,  one  representing  the 
empire  of  the  Medes  and  the  other  that  of  the 
Persians.  Then  suddenly  from  the  west  there 
arises  a  goat  with  one  horn,  and  it  makes  a 


84  The  Millennial  Hope 

furious  onslaught  upon  the  ram.  The  goat 
represents  the  Greeks,  and  Alexander  is  its  great 
horn;  but  suddenly  it  is  broken  off  and  four 
others  take  its  place.  These  represent  the  four 
divisions  into  which  Alexander's  kingdom  was 
parted  by  his  successors.  From  one  of  these 
horns  comes  a  little  horn,  Antiochus  IV,  that 
grows  rapidly  toward  the  south  and  west,  mak- 
ing war  upon  the  Jews  in  an  effort  to  overthrow 
the  religion  of  the  true  God.  The  angelic 
interpreter  explains  that  God  will  presently 
smite  this  scourge  of  the  chosen  people,  and 
their  polluted  sanctuary  shall  be  cleansed. 

The  fourth  and  last  vision  furnishes  still 
another  epitome  of  history  under  the  guise  of 
revelation.  The  Persian  and  the  Greek  king- 
doms are  described  in  turn,  particular  emphasis 
being  placed  upon  the  events  leading  up  to 
Antiochus  IV  and  his  persecution  of  the  Jews. 
This  ruler  shall  exalt  himself  in  his  pride,  even 
speaking  against  God,  but  his  end  is  near. 
While  he  is  on  his  way  from  a  victorious  expedi- 
tion against  the  Egyptians,  Jehovah  will  sud- 
denly smite  him  within  sight  of  Jerusalem. 
Following  the  death  of  Antiochus  the  people  of 
God  will  have  to  endure  a  brief  period  of  terrible 
suffering   as   the  powers   of   evil   make   their 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  85 

supreme  effort  at  self-assertion.  But  Israel's 
guardian  angel  Michael  will  champion  the 
afflicted  people,  effecting  deliverance  for  the 
righteous,  after  which  the  dead  will  be  raised 
to  receive  fitting  rewards  and  punishments  in 
the  new  age.  Daniel  heard  the  angel  Gabriel 
solemnly  declare  that  the  period  of  great  distress 
under  Antiochus  IV  would  last  for  three  and 
one-half  years,  after  which  God  would  intervene 
to  reward  the  faithful  and  establish  a  new 
regime  upon  earth. 

As  compared  with  the  views  of  the  post-exilic 
prophets,  the  Jewish  hope  depicted  in  Daniel 
shows  much  less  interest  in  the  restoration  of 
the  idealized  kingdom  of  pre-exilic  times.  The 
Davidic  Messiah  is  never  mentioned.  The  only 
^^  Anointed  One"  referred  to  in  the  book  is  either 
the  Persian  king  Cyrus  or  a  Jewish  priest  whose 
career  is  to  come  to  an  end  before  redemption  is 
fully  accomplished.^  The  agent  employed  by 
Jehovah  in  establishing  the  new  order  is  an 
angel  from  heaven,  who  is  wholly  devoid  of 
previous  earthly  connections.  There  is  really 
no  Messiah  at  all  in  Daniel,  but  only  God  and 
the  angels  working  together  to  bring  about  the 
redemption  of  the  afflicted  people.     And  when 


86  The  Millennial  Hope 

the  task  has  been  completed  and  the  new  age 
established,  it  will  be  not  so  much  a  restoration 
of  the  ancient  regal  glory  of  Israel  as  the  institu- 
tion of  a  new  heavenly  regime  upon  earth. 

The  hopes  of  the  writer  of  Daniel,  like  those 
of  his  prophetic  predecessors,  failed  of  fulfil- 
ment. Antiochus  IV  did  not  die  in  the  sight 
of  Jerusalem  as  Daniel  had  predicted,  nor  did 
three  and  a  half  years  bring  an  end  to  the 
troubles  of  the  Jews.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Maccabean  princes  after  a  long  struggle  gained 
a  measure  of  independence  for  the  nation,  but, 
with  foreign  oppression  removed,  new  troubles 
arose  within  the  national  life,  resulting  at  times 
in  bloody  civil  warfare.  When  Rome  appeared 
upon  the  scene,  taking  over  Palestine  in  63  B.C., 
the  national  independence  of  the  Jews  came  to 
an  end.  Under  the  Herods,  who  ruled  as  vice- 
gerents of  Rome,  conditions  were  tolerable  at 
times,  but  unrest  and  discontent  never  ceased. 
In  the  year  70  a.d.  the  climax  of  woe  seemed 
to  be  reached,  when  the  Roman  conqueror 
destroyed  the  temple,  and  the  rebellion  of  Bar- 
cochba  in  the  next  century  brought  only  new 
distress  upon  the  much-afflicted  people.  Yet 
during  all  these  years  of  repeated  calamity  their 
hopes  survived,  kept  alive  by  the  visions  of 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  87 

various  apocalyptic  writers  who  followed  in  the 
footsteps  of  Daniel. 

A  collection  of  apocalyptic  writings  pseu- 
donymously  connected  with  Enoch  constitutes 
another  important  repository  of  Jewish  hopes 
during  a  part  of  the  second,  and  throughout 
the  first,  century  B.C.  These  visions  of  the 
future,  issued  at  different  times  and  finally 
compiled  into  a  single  book,  represent  the 
efforts  of  various  seers  to  stimulate  the  faith  of 
the  Jewish  people.  Enoch's  eyes  are  said  to 
have  been  opened  by  God,  to  whom  he  was 
introduced  by  the  angels,  who  instructed  him 
regarding  events  to  come. 

The  first  assurance  offered  by  the  book  is  a 
picture  of  the  eternal  God  coming  forth  from 
his  heavenly  dwelling  to  tread  upon  the  earth. 
He  will  execute  judgment  upon  sinners,  but  the 
righteous  shall  inherit  rich  blessings.  Having 
been  purified  from  all  evil,  they  will  enjoy 
eternal  gladness  and  peace  all  the  days  of  their 
life.'  Then  follows  a  more  detailed  picture  of 
this  earthly  blessedness  of  the  new  age.  After 
God  has  removed  all  evil  from  the  face  of 
the  earth,  the  renovated  land  is  to  become 
marvelously  fruitful  and  the  righteous  are  to 

^  Chaps.  1-5. 


88  The  Millennial  Hope 

multiply  abundantly.  Upon  this  renewed  earth 
rich  blessings  from  heaven  will  descend;  ''  truth 
and  peace  shall  be  associated  together  through- 
out all  the  days  of  the  world  and  throughout  all 
the  generations  of  men.'''  Jerusalem  will  be 
the  center  of  this  new  regime  with  God  himself 
as  ruler.  The  righteous  dead  will  be  raised  to 
participate  in  the  delights  of  the  coming  age,  one 
of  their  privileges  being  the  pleasure  of  witness- 
ing the  sufferings  of  apostate  Jews  in  Gehenna. 

A  somewhat  different  description  of  the  fu- 
ture is  presented  in  another  section  of  the  book 
(chapters  83-90).  The  destiny  of  the  world 
is  revealed  to  Enoch  in  two  dreams  cover- 
ing all  past  history,  as  well  as  the  days  to  come. 
Enoch  discovers  that  God  had  intrusted  the 
welfare  of  Israel  to  seventy  angels  who  began 
their  activity  at  about  the  time  of  the  exile. 
They  represent  hostile  rulers  whose  task  was  the 
chastisement  of  Israel,  but  they  performed  their 
work  with  greater  zeal  than  God  had  intended. 
These  angelic  masters  were  divided  into  four 
groups,  one  group  officiating  during  the  exile, 
another  during  the  Persian  rule,  a  third  during 
the  Greek  rule  down  to  a  time  when  certain 
Jewish  reforms  were  championed  by  a  great 

'  11:2. 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  89 

leader  of  the  now  obscure  party  to  which  the 
author  himself  belongs.  This  leader  is  a  war- 
rior prince,  perhaps  one  of  the  Maccabean  line, 
whose  career  falls  under  the  regime  of  the  fourth 
group  of  angels  and  is  to  be  followed  by  the 
introduction  of  the  day  of  Jehovah.  The  exact 
date  of  this  event  is  not  specified,  but  manifestly 
the  author  regards  it  as  imminent. 

The  near  future  holds  in  store  a  brilliant 
victory  for  God,  who  himself  descends  to 
execute  judgment  upon  sinners.  Prominent 
among  those  to  be  punished  are  the  seventy 
angels  representing  the  foreign  powers  which 
had  afflicted  Israel.  They  are  to  be  cast  into 
a  fiery  abyss,  while  apostate  Jews  suffer  similar 
torture  in  the  valley  of  Gehenna  near  Jerusalem. 
The  old  Jerusalem  is  to  be  folded  up  like  a  dis- 
carded tent,  its  place  being  taken  by  a  new 
heavenly  Jerusalem  where  God  himself  will 
dwell.  All  Gentiles  in  the  surrounding  country 
are  to  become  subject  to  Israel,  and  the  right- 
eous are  to  be  raised  to  join  the  new  community. 
As  the  climactic  event  on  the  program,  the 
Messiah  will  be  born  and  assume  a  position  of 
leadership  in  the  new  society. 

Still  other  portions  of  this  composite  book 
furnish  interesting  variations  in  imagery.     One 


go  The  Millennial  Hope 

seer  has  a  vision  of  the  whole  course  of  history 
divided  into  ten  world- weeks  (chapters  91-104). 
The  end  of  the  first  seven  successive  weeks  is 
marked  respectively  by  Enoch,  Noah,  Abraham, 
Moses,  Solomon's  temple,  the  exile,  and  the  end 
of  the  righteous  party  of  Jews  to  whom  the 
writer  belongs.  The  eighth  week,  soon  to  come, 
will  usher  in  a  new  age  of  triumph  for  the  faith- 
ful, when  they  will  be  given  power  to  slay  the 
wicked.  The  ninth  and  tenth  weeks  are  a 
messianic  period  of  happiness  when  the  right- 
eous dwell  in  the  new  Jerusalem  which  has  been 
set  up  upon  earth.  During  this  time  the  world 
at  large  learns  of  impending  judgment.  On  the 
last  day  of  the  tenth  week  the  great  final  judg- 
ment takes  place,  after  which  there  will  be  a 
new  heaven  and  ^^many  weeks  without  number 
forever  and  all  shall  be  in  goodness  and  right- 
eousness and  sin  shall  no  more  be  mentioned 
forever." 

One  more  picture  from  the  collection  of 
Enoch  apocalypses  especially  merits  notice. 
This  is  contained  in  a  series  of  three  parables 
which  the  Lord  of  spirits  teaches  Enoch  in  order 
that  he  may  recount  them  to  those  that  dwell 
upon  the  earth  (chapters  37-71).  Transported 
to  heaven,  he  sees  the  future  abodes  of  the 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  91 

righteous  now  occupied  by  angels  and  by  the 
pre-existent  heavenly  Messiah.  Then  follows 
a  description  of  this  Messiah,  who  is  presently 
to  come  in  judgment  to  take  vengeance  upon 
hostile  earthly  rulers.  Enoch  sees  the  picture 
of  this  impending  event  which  is  to  strike 
terror  into  both  men  and  angels.  The  heathen 
will  make  a  terrific  assault  upon  Jerusalem,  but 
their  efforts  will  result  in  self-destruction.  The 
really  triumphant  host  now  appears  in  the  form 
of  the  returning  Israelites  who  come  riding  upon 
the  winds  to  Jerusalem,  where  they  fall  down 
and  worship  the  Lord  of  spirits. 

The  final  parable  describes  the  consumma- 
tion of  the  new  kingdom,  when  the  ''Son  of 
Man,"  the  pre-existent  heavenly  Messiah,  is 
finally  revealed.  Judgment  is  set  up  by  the 
Messiah,  who  now  occupies  the  very  throne  of 
God.  Angels  as  well  as  men  are  subject  to  the 
judgment,  and  condemnation  is  passed  upon  all 
sinners.  The  earth,  purged  of  all  evil,  will 
become  the  fit  and  eternal  dwelling-place  of  the 
Messiah  and  his  companions,  who  revel  in  the 
glories  of  an  incorruptible  heavenly  world  now 
established  upon  the  renovated  earth. 

During  the  first  century  A.D.,  as  a  means  of 
offsetting  contemporary  evils,  the  apocalyptic 


92  The  Millennial  Hope 

type  of  hope  continued  to  thrive  among  the 
Jews.  At  some  time  in  the  first  part  of  this 
century  another  apocalypse,  the  Secrets  of 
Enoch,  was  issued  in  the  name  of  Enoch, 
describing  what  he  saw  as  he  was  journeying 
up  through  the  seven  heavens  until  he  arrived 
in  the  very  presence  of  God.  After  residing  in 
the  highest  heaven  for  a  month  he  returned  to 
earth  for  a  similar  period  in  order  to  encourage 
holy  living  among  men,  lest  they  miss  the 
mansions  prepared  for  the  righteous  and  fall  into 
the  torments  awaiting  the  wicked.  This  future 
hope  is  mainly  an  affair  of  the  individual,  but 
in  one  passage  the  author  intimates  that  the  end 
of  the  present  world  is  to  be  expected  seven 
thousand  years  from  the  date  of  creation.^ 
This  date  is  obtained  by  making  each  day  of 
creation-week  represent  one  thousand  years. 
Since  God  created  the  world  in  six  days,  it  will 
endure  under  present  conditions  six  thousand 
years;  then  will  come  a  thousand  years  of  peace 
— the  millennium — corresponding  to  God's  Sab- 
bath day  of  rest.  This  last  world-day  will  be 
followed  by  the  judgment,  when  the  present 
world  will  cease,  the  righteous  being  transported 
to  mansions  in  heaven,  while  the  wicked  find 

»32:if. 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  93 

their  place  in  hell,  itself  located  in  the  third 
heaven. 

A  different  reckoning  is  proposed  by  another 
apocalypse  commonly  known  as  the  Assumption 
of  Moses.  It  sketches  the  history  of  the  He- 
brews from  the  time  of  Moses  to  the  advent  of 
the  expected  messianic  age.  The  end  is  to  come 
seventeen  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  Moses^ 
death,  which  is  said  to  have  occurred  twenty- 
five  hundred  (or  twenty-seven  hundred)  years 
after  the  creation.  The  author  lived  early 
in  the  first  century  a.d.  and  apparently  believed 
the  new  day  to  be  near  at  hand  when  he  wrote. 
The  present  rulers  are  denounced,  but  their 
career  is  to  be  short-lived.  The  writer  portrays 
in  usual  fashion  the  terrible  woes  immediately 
to  precede  the  end,  when  God  himself  will 
punish  the  enemies  of  Israel.  Yet  it  is  not  at  all 
certain  that  the  seer  expects  the  establishment 
of  any  messianic  age  upon  earth.  After  God 
intervenes  Israel  shall  be  exalted  and  the 
days  of  her  sorrow  ended.  But  seemingly 
her  reward  is  simply  translation  to  heaven: 
^^God  shall  exalt  thee  and  bring  thee  to 
the  heaven  of  the  stars,  the  place  of  [his 
habitation."^ 

^  10:9  f. 


94  The  Millennial  Hope 

The  two  most  elaborate  apocalypses  of  the 
first  or  early  second  century  a.d.  received  their 
final  form  soon  after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  in 
the  year  70,  and  were  designed  especially  to 
strengthen  hopes  which  had  been  severely 
shaken  by  that  dire  calamity.  One  of  these 
works  was  issued  in  the  name  of  Baruch,  the 
scribe  of  Jeremiah/  God  is  represented  as 
announcing  to  Baruch  the  destruction  about  to 
overtake  Jerusalem,  but  the  scribe's  grief  is 
relieved  by  a  divine  assurance  that  in  due  time 
the  triumphant  glory  of  God  will  be  fully 
revealed.  Baruch  himself  is  to  live  to  see  the 
day  of  God's  victory.  True,  the  holy  city  has 
fallen  apparently  at  the  hands  of  the  Gentiles, 
but  in  reality  by  the  act  of  four  angels  sent  from 
God,  who  thus  punishes  his  people  in  order  that 
they  may  be  more  thoroughly  sanctified.  Par- 
ticulars regarding  the  great  tribulation  are  dis- 
closed, but  those  persons  who  keep  the  law 
faithfully  will  survive  all  these  terrible  trials. 
As  Rome  has  destroyed  Jerusalem,  so  this 
heathen  nation  shall  itself  perish  at  the  hands 
of  the  heavenly  Messiah  soon  to  be  revealed, 
who  will  establish  temporarily  his  triumphant 
rule  upon  the  earth.     Ultimately  this  material 

^Jer.  36:4£f. 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  95 

world  will  pass  away,  the  reign  of  the  Messiah 
will  come  to  an  end,  and  he  along  with  his  faith- 
ful followers  will  be  given  a  place  in  heaven. 

The  second  of  these  late  apocalypses  bears 
the  name  of  Ezra.^  In  a  series  of  seven  visions 
the  divine  will  is  disclosed  to  the  seer.  In  his 
first  vision  he  learns  that  God  has  purposely 
given  this  world  over  to  the  powers  of  evil, 
intending  that  wickedness  should  increase  rather 
than  diminish  with  the  passage  of  time,  for  God 
does  not  design  to  reform  the  world  but  to 
destroy  it  at  an  appointed  hour.  The  date  of 
the  end  is  not  definitely  known  by  men,  but  the 
signs  of  its  approach  may  be  clearly  perceived 
in  the  degeneracy  of  the  times  and  in  unusual 
natural  phenomena.  In  the  author's  own  day 
these  signs  already  indicate  that  the  present 
age  is  drawing  rapidly  to  its  close. 

The  first  stage  in  the  program  of  renewal  will 
be  a  temporary  messianic  kingdom  upon  earth. 
After  the  period  of  final  tribulation  has  passed, 
a  new  Jerusalem  will  be  revealed,  along  with 
the  pre-existent  Messiah,  whose  reign  is  to 
continue  four  hundred  years.  The  appearing  of 
the  Messiah  will  mean  the  utter  downfall  of 

^  It  is  often  called  IV  Ezra  and  is  identical  with  II  Esdras, 
chaps.  3-14,  in  the  Old  Testament  Apocrypha. 


96  The  Millennial  Hope 

Rome  and  a  gathering  together  of  all  Israel  to 
participate  in  the  delights  of  the  new  kingdom. 
When  the  day  for  the  cessation  of  the  messianic 
kingdom  arrives,  all  men,  even  the  Messiah 
included,  shall  die,  and  the  earth  will  lie  in 
primeval  silence  for  seven  days.  Then  God 
himself  will  appear  and  institute  a  seven-year 
day  of  judgment.  All  the  dead  will  be  raised, 
the  wicked  to  receive  eternal  punishment  in 
Gehenna  and  the  righteous  to  enter  upon  a  life 
of  eternal  bliss  in  the  new  heavenly  world  now 
to  be  established. 

While  the  apocalyptic  seers  often  differed 
widely  from  one  another  in  the  details  of  their 
respective  pictures,  they  all  represent  the  same 
general  tendency  in  the  evolution  of  Jewish 
hopes.  The  main  features  of  their  outlook  may 
be  briefly  epitomized.  In  the  first  place,  their 
chief  interest  is  in  a  coming  heavenly  deliver- 
ance rather  than  in  the  restoration  of  a  Davidic 
national  kingdom.  Hope  is  not  directed  toward 
a  glorious  national  life  constructed  according 
to  an  idealized  past  model,  but  the  new  status 
of  Israel  is  patterned  after  a  heavenly  model  yet 
to  be  revealed.  Frequently  the  figure  of  the 
Messiah  does  not  appear  at  all,  or  else  he  plays 
a  very  insignificant  role.     God  himself  is  the 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  97 

prime  actor,  and  the  consummation  of  salva- 
tion is  attained  only  after  he  has  completely 
destroyed  the  present  world,  supplanting  it 
with  a  new  and  incorruptible  world  of  heavenly 
origin. 

Sometimes  a  slight  concession  was  made  to 
the  ancient  national  type  of  hope  by  inserting 
a  messianic  interregnum — four  hundred  years 
or  one  thousand  years,  as  the  case  may  be — 
between  the  end  of  the  present  world  and  the 
final  establishment  of  the  new  heavenly  world. 
This  intermediate  period  satisfied  the  ancient 
demand  for  a  triumphant  earthly  dominion  of 
Israel  under  the  rule  of  a  Messiah.  But  to  the 
apocalyptic  writers  it  is  only  a  passing  phase  in 
the  scheme  of  redemption.  Still  another  way 
of  preserving  the  notion  of  a  Messiah  is  seen 
in  other  apocalypses,  where  he  is  represented 
as  a  pre-existent,  angelic  being  at  the  outset. 
According  to  this  representation  he  is  entirely 
without  earthly  connections,  but  holds  a 
superior  heavenly  position  which  makes  him 
an  integral  part  of  the  new  order  yet  to  be 
revealed. 

Other  features  of  apocalyptic  hope  are  of 
the  conventional  type.  Before  the  advent  of 
the  new  age  the  present  world  will  suffer  a 


98  The  Millennial  Hope 

preliminary  period  of  terrible  distress.  Each 
seer  in  turn  seems  to  think  that  in  his  own  day 
the  period  of  final  agony  has  begun  or  is  soon 
to  break.  A  return  of  Elijah  is  also  expected 
to  fulfil  the  preparatory  mission  predicted  by 
Mai.  4 : 5  f .  As  the  Messiah,  when  present  at  all, 
belongs  more  particularly  to  the  heavenly  world, 
so  the  powers  of  evil  are  similarly  transcenden- 
talized.  They  are  no  longer  merely  hostile 
heathen  nations,  but  demonic  forces  of  the  air 
and  the  underworld,  who  array  themselves  in 
battle  against  God,  the  Messiah,  and  the  angelic 
host.  When  a  messianic  interregnum  is  given 
a  place  in  the  program,  it  is  usually  inserted  at 
this  point.  Upon  a  renovated  earth  the  Mes- 
siah establishes  a  new  community  of  saints, 
gathering  together  the  scattered  peoples  from 
all  parts  of  the  earth.  But  there  is  to  be  a 
further  outbreak  of  evil  before  the  ideal  order  is 
ultimately  established.  With  the  final  defeat 
of  all  evil  powers  come  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead  and  a  universal  judgment.  Then  the 
righteous  enter  upon  a  life  of  eternal  blessed- 
ness, the  wicked  are  condemned  to  eternal 
torment,  and  the  whole  cosmos  assumes  its 
new,  incorruptible  status  to  endure  throughout 
eternity. 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  99 

V 

While  the  apocalyptic  seers  were  turning 
their  eyes  heavenward  for  visions  of  the  coming 
deliverance,  other  Jews  continued  to  cherish  the 
ancient  ideal  of  a  new  national  supremacy  to  be 
realized  upon  the  present  earth.  Sometimes 
hope  was  directed  toward  a  definite  princely 
deliverer  anointed  by  God  to  establish  the  new 
kingdom.  At  other  times  it  was  thought  that 
God  himself  would  act  directly  in  the  capacity 
of  savior. 

Occasionally  messianic  hopes  attached  them- 
selves to  the  Maccabean  princes  who  by  suc- 
cessfully resisting  the  power  of  Syria  secured 
national  independence  for  the  Jews.  It  is  quite 
probable  that  Psalm  no  was  composed  in  honor 
of  Simon  Maccabeus,  whose  success  in  estab- 
lishing the  political  independence  of  Judea 
stimulated  the  messianic  hopes  of  the  contem- 
porary psalmist.  This  national  type  of  hope 
also  persists  in  the  book  known  as  the  Testa- 
ments of  the  Twelve  Patriarchs,  composed  near 
the  beginning  of  the  first  century  B.C.  The 
Testaments  sometimes  make  this  national  hero 
a  priestly  king,  that  is,  a  descendant  of  Levi 
rather  than  of  David.  It  is  declared  that  the 
seed  of  Levi  has  been  chosen  by  the  Lord  to  be 


loo  The  Millennial  Hope 

king  over  all  the  nation.'  On  one  occasion  the 
coming  hero  is  described  as  king,  priest,  and 
prophet  in  one,  an  honor  borne  by  the  Macca- 
bean  prince  John  Hyrcanus  (135-104  B.C.).'' 
This  national  Messiah  is  pictured  as  a  mighty 
ruler  who  brings  an  end  to  all  evil,  triumphs 
over  all  enemies,  opens  the  gates  of  Paradise  to 
the  righteous,  and  establishes  an  eternal  king- 
dom of  God  on  earth. 

In  describing  the  Jewish  national  hope  the 
author  of  the  Sibylline  Oracles  (belonging  to 
the  late  second  century  B.C.)  revives  the  imagery 
of  the  post-exihc  prophets.  A  consummation 
of  evils  is  pictured,  after  which  God  will  send 
his  people  a  new  king  '^  from  the  sunrise. '^  This 
ruler  will  establish  an  ideal  regime,  turning  the 
wealth  of  the  world  toward  Palestine  and  caus- 
ing both  earth  and  sea  to  abound  in  good  things. 
This  period  of  earthly  bliss  will  be  followed  by  a 
new  outbreak  of  evil,  whereupon  God  himself 
shall  intervene,  destroying  all  the  forces  of 
wickedness  and  executing  judgment  upon  man- 
kind. This  event  will  be  followed  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  universal  kingdom  with  Jerusalem 
as  its  center  and  God  himself  as  its  king. 

'  Reuben  6:10-12;  Simeon  5:5. 

"  Test.  Levi  8: 11-15;  Josephus,  Ant.,  XIII,  x,  7. 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  loi 

Another  late  second-century  document,  the 
Book  of  Jubilees,  also  depicts  the  advent  of  the 
messianic  age  upon  earth.  There  will  come 
days  of  great  tribulation  when  calamities  follow 
fast  upon  one  another.  These  are  God's  pun- 
ishments upon  an  evil  generation.  But,  as  the 
children  of  Israel  return  to  the  path  of  right- 
eousness, by  a  gradual  process  of  transformation 
there  will  come  a  time  when  the  activities  of 
Satan  will  completely  cease.  The  adversaries 
who  have  formerly  afflicted  the  people  so  sorely 
shall  be  utterly  destroyed.  The  Lord  himself 
will  heal  all  their  ills,  and  they  shall  dwell  in 
peace  forever.  After  years  of  happiness  upon 
the  restored  earth,  the  righteous  will  die,  their 
bones  resting  peaceably  in  the  earth,  while  their 
spirits  find  a  joyous  dwelling-place  elsewhere. 

About  the  middle  of  the  first  century  B.C.  the 
national  form  of  hope  emerged  again  in  a  book 
known  as  the  Psalms  of  Solomon.  It  presents  a 
vivid  picture  of  future  hope,  including  the 
return  of  the  scattered  tribes  to  Palestine,  the 
destruction  of  Israel's  foes,  the  execution  of 
judgment  upon  all  sinners,  the  resurrection  of 
the  righteous  to  eternal  life,  and  the  condemna- 
tion of  the  wicked  to  eternal  punishment.  At 
the  close  of  the  book  the  Messiah  is  described 


I02  The  Millennial  Hope 

as  a  righteous  and  divinely  equipped  prince 
descended  from  David.  He  will  purify  the 
Jewish  people,  purge  Jerusalem,  and  destroy  the 
ungodly  heathen.  Apparently  the  book  reflects 
the  hope  of  certain  pious  Jews  in  the  decades  of 
distress  following  the  conquest  of  Palestine  by 
the  Romans  in  63  B.C. 

Philo,  a  leading  Jew  of  Alexandria  in  the  first 
half  of  the  first  century,  was  also  a  champion  of 
the  national  type  of  kingdom  to  be  established 
upon  the  present  earth.  In  opposition  to  the 
Stoic  notion  that  this  world  is  to  be  dissolved  by 
a  sudden  conflagration,  Philo  affirms  the  immu- 
tabihty  of  the  universe.^  Yet  he  expects  a 
better  day  for  the  Jews.  When  through  affliction 
they  have  been  led  to  repent,  God  will  prove 
himself  their  merciful  savior,  restoring  all  the 
scattered  tribes  to  Palestine  in  a  single  day. 
This  sudden  deliverance  will  strike  terror  into 
their  gentile  masters,  who  will  release  the  Jews 
because  ashamed  to  hold  in  subjection  men  who 
are  better  than  themselves.  The  dispersed 
people  are  to  be  led  back  to  the  Holy  Land  by  a 
superhuman  figure  invisible  to  all  others  except 
to  those  who  are  being  delivered.  God  will 
suddenly  effect  a  complete  transformation  in 

'  On  the  Incorruptibility  of  the  World,  12  ff. 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  103 

their  condition.  Their  ruined  cities  will  be 
rebuilt,  the  depopulated  territory  will  overflow 
with  inhabitants,  unfruitful  lands  will  become 
fertile,  past  prosperity  will  be  as  nothing  when 
compared  with  present  abundance,  and  all  for- 
mer adversaries  will  be  put  to  utter  confusion.' 
The  hope  of  national  restoration  came  to 
emphatic  expression  during  the  first  and  second 
centuries  a.d.  in  various  attempts  to  throw  off 
the  rule  of  Rome.  The  spirit  of  revolt  was 
directly  fostered  by  the  current  beHef  that  God 
would  intervene  to  assist  his  people  and  restore 
their  political  independence.  In  early  life  the 
Jewish  historian  Josephus  had  been  a  party  to 
the  revolt  of  66-70  a.d.,  but  later,  on  becoming 
friendly  toward  the  Romans,  he  endeavored  to 
minimize  the  significance  of  the  political  aspir- 
ations of  his  kinsmen.  In  deference  to  his 
Roman  readers  he  accuses  the  Jews  of  stupidity 
in  failing  to  perceive  that  the  emperor,  Ves- 
pasian, reaUy  fulfilled  the  national  Jewish  hope. 
Nevertheless  the  vitaHty  of  this  hope  is  clearly 
reflected  in  Josephus'  pages.  From  the  first 
decade  of  the  first  century  until  the  fall  of 
Jerusalem  the  restless  people  were  ever  ready 
to  follow  any  leader  who  gave  promise  of  ability 

^  On  Curses,  8  f.;  Rewards  and  Punishmetits,  15-20. 


I04  The  Millennial  Hope 

to  inaugurate  a  new  era  of  national  independ- 
ence.' As  Josephus  candidly  admits,  the  revolt 
against  Rome  rested  upon  the  belief  that  God 
would  lead  his  chosen  people  to  victory  and  give 
them  a  prince  who  should  become  ruler  of  the 
habitable  world.""  And  after  the  fall  of  Jerusa- 
lem in  70  A.D.  Roman  emperors  took  pains  to 
remove  any  Jew  of  Davidic  descent  who  seemed 
capable  of  instigating  a  messianic  uprising. 

In  spite  of  Rome's  watchfulness  Jewish  belief 
in  the  appearing  of  a  national  messianic  deliv- 
erer was  still  sufficiently  strong  to  inspire 
another  serious  revolution,  continuing  from 
132  to  135  A.D.  The  leader  of  this  revolt  is 
best  known  by  the  surname  Barcochba,  mean- 
ing "Son  of  a  Star."  He  set  himself  forward 
as  the  Messiah  raised  up  by  God  to  deliver  the 
Jews  from  Roman  domination,  and  his  claim 
was  regarded  as  valid,  not  only  by  the  masses, 
but  also  by  leading  Jewish  teachers  such  as 
Rabbi  Akiba.  The  revolt  was  so  enthusiasti- 
cally supported  that  the  emperor  Hadrian  sum- 
moned from  Britain  one  of  his  most  powerful 
generals  to  suppress  the  uprising.     In  135  a.d. 

^  See  Josephus,  Ant.,  XVIII,  i,  i;  XX,  v,  i;  viii,  5;  War,  II, 
viii,  I. 

'  War,  VI,  V,  4,  an  idea  repeated  by  Tacitus  iffw/.  v.  13:3  and 
Suetonius  Vesp.  4. 


Hebrew  and  Jewish  Hopes  105 

the  Romans  finally  triumphed,  and  Jewish  efforts 
at  securing  national  independence  by  force  of 
arms  came  to  an  end. 

VI 

With  the  defeat  of  Barcochba  Jewish  hopes 
were  not  crushed,  but  in  succeeding  generations 
they  became  much  less  spontaneous  and  vivid. 
They  were  now  the  creation  of  the  schools  or  of 
individual  rabbis  who  allegorized  or  '^spiritual- 
ized" the  heritage  from  the  past.  The  imagery 
of  prophets  and  apocalyptists  was  repeated  or 
recast  in  academic  fashion  as  new  dates  were 
fixed  for  the  expected  end  of  the  world.  The 
woes  to  precede  the  end,  the  preliminary  mission 
of  Elijah,  the  advent  of  the  Messiah  in  one  form 
or  another,  the  glories  of  his  rule,  the  complete 
destruction  of  Israel's  enemies,  the  resurrection, 
the  judgment,  and  the  establishment  of  a  new 
eternal  order  continued  to  be  outstanding  items 
of  messianic  speculation. 

Fancy  occasionally  painted  highly  overdrawn 
pictures  of  the  coming  age.  The  fruitfulness 
of  the  earth  was  so  magnified  that  the  trees 
were  to  bear  ripe  fruit  every  day,  and  prosperity 
would  be  so  abundant  that  the  righteous  would 
feast  upon  cake  and  clothe  themselves  in  silk. 
An  abundance  of  children  would  also  be  insured, 


io6  The  Millennial  Hope 

for  every  wife  would  bear  children  every  day. 
Occasionally  the  dehghts  of  the  messianic  ban- 
quet were  depicted  in  extravagant  imagery. 
One  delicacy  to  be  served  was  the  flesh  of  a  sea 
monster  slain  by  God  himself  in  preparation  for 
the  feast.  Another  dish  would  be  the  flesh  of 
oxen  reared  in  Paradise  and  reserved  for  the 
occasion.  Also  the  flesh  of  a  mammoth  bird, 
and  geese  so  fat  that  their  feathers  fell  out 
spontaneously,  would  be  served.  In  addition 
to  these  delicacies  a  glorious  wine  which  had 
been  stored  up  from  the  beginning  of  the  world 
in  Paradise  would  be  imbibed  in  great  abun- 
dance by  the  saints  as  they  sat  upon  precious 
stones  about  the  banquet  hall. 

These  vagaries  do  not  represent  the  main 
stream  of  later  Jewish  hopes,  although  they 
have  a  very  natural  basis  in  the  imagery  of 
earlier  times.  But  except  for  an  academic 
interest  Jewish  millennial  expectations  gradu- 
ally lost  their  significance.  With  the  hope  of 
national  restoration  indefinitely  deferred  by 
political  disaster,  and  with  the  failure  of  apoc- 
alyptic prophecy  to  materialize,  faith  found 
more  immediate  satisfaction  in  the  thought  of 
a  blessed  future  for  the  individual  soul  imme- 
diately after  death. 


CHAPTER  III 
EARLY  CHRISTIAN  HOPES 

The  earliest  Christians  were  Jews  of  Palestine 
who  shared  the  fears  and  the  hopes  of  their  race. 
During  the  first  century  a.d.  the  hopes  of  the 
Palestinian  Jews  were  very  perceptibly  influ- 
enced by  contemporary  political  events.  In 
the  latter  part  of  the  previous  century  Herod 
the  Great  had  served  as  a  buffer  between  Rome 
and  the  Jews,  but  after  his  death  in  4  B.C.  the 
yoke  of  the  foreign  conqueror  became  more 
burdensome  and  the  pressure  of  this  situation 
soon  awakened  new  discontent  in  the  hearts  of 
the  people. 

Since  Maccabean  times  the  hope  of  national 
restoration  under  the  leadership  of  a  Davidic 
messianic  piince  had  partially  faded  out,  being 
supplanted  in  certain  circles  by  the  expectation 
of  a  heavenly  kingdom  to  be  established  upon 
earth  either  by  a  direct  act  of  God  or  through 
the  mediation  of  an  angelic  Messiah.  But  as 
time  passed,  the  latter  hope  came  no  nearer  to 
fulfilment  than  the  former.     This  delay,  and 

107 


io8  The  Millennial  Hope 

the  new  unrest  due  to  increased  Roman  inter- 
ference in  Palestinian  affairs,  resulted  in  a 
temporary  recrudescence  of  the  national  type 
of  hope.  Jewish  enthusiasts  were  ready  to 
advocate  open  revolt  against  Rome,  even  as 
the  Maccabees  had  rebelled  against  the  tyranny 
of  the  Seleucids.  This  spirit  of  revolution  was 
fostered  by  a  belief  that  Jehovah  would  employ 
an  earthly  representative  as  his  agent  in  effect- 
ing political  deliverance  for  his  people. 

The  first  formal  outbreak  of  this  new  national 
enthusiasm  occurred  in  connection  with  a  census 
taken  by  the  Romans  as  a  basis  for  taxation 
soon  after  6  a.d.  A  certain  Judas  of  Galilee 
stirred  up  the  people,  declaring  that  the  Jews 
were  being  enslaved  and  that  unless  they 
asserted  their  freedom  by  appeahng  to  the 
sword  they  need  not  expect  God  to  come  to 
their  assistance.  If  they  were  to  receive  deliv- 
erance from  him,  they  must  show  a  willingness 
to  sacrifice  themselves  in  his  cause.  Although 
Judas  and  his  followers  were  soon  crushed  by  the 
might  of  Rome,  the  new  national  movement  sur- 
vived and  gathered  strength  with  the  years  until 
it  precipitated  the  two  disastrous  revolutions  of 
66-70  and  132-35  A.D.  All  through  these  years 
the  possibility  of  a  successful  national  uprising 


Early  Christian  Hopes  109 

and  the  appearing  of  an  earthly  messianic  deliv- 
erer were  prominent  items  in  Jewish  thinking. 
Occasionally  prospective  leaders  were  successful 
in  attracting  followers  and  in  initiating  revolu- 
tionary movements,  but  usually  the  watchful 
Romans  quickly  and  harshly  suppressed  all 
incipient  messianic  revolts. 

Side  by  side  with  the  new  national  move- 
ment the  quietists  maintained  that  the  only 
hope  of  deliverance  lay  in  the  avoidance  of 
political  entanglements  and  the  advent  of  a 
purely  heavenly  messianic  age  to  be  established 
by  an  outright  act  of  Jehovah.  The  advent  of 
the  kingdom  would  occur  at  the  divinely 
appointed  moment  independently  of  human 
initiative.  In  the  meantime  the  sufferings  en- 
dured by  the  righteous,  being  a  necessary  part 
of  the  reign  of  terror  to  precede  the  new  age, 
were  neither  to  be  shunned  nor  to  be  resisted  by 
force.  The  primary  duty  of  Jehovah's  people 
was  to  live  righteously  lest  they  be  found 
unworthy  of  a  place  in  the  new  kingdom.  They 
did  not  themselves  attempt  to  transform  the 
present  social  order  into  an  ideal  kingdom  of 
God,  nor  did  they  expect  this  to  be  done  even  by 
Jehovah.  They  hoped  for  a  complete  destruc- 
tion of  the  present  order  and  the  institution 


no  The  Millennial  Hope 

of  a  new  heavenly  society  upon  a  miraculously 
purified  earth. 

The  poHtical  turmoil  in  Palestine  during  the 
first  and  second  centuries  a.d.  left  its  mark  upon 
early  Christianity.  Any  individual,  such  as 
John  the  Baptist  or  Jesus,  who  attracted  the 
eye  of  the  populace  was  readily  suspected  of 
political  designs  and  was  liable  to  be  summarily 
disposed  of  by  the  authorities.  These  exi- 
gencies certainly  hastened  the  end  of  Jesus' 
public  career,  and  possibly  Herod's  arrest  of 
John  had  been  prompted  by  a  fear  that  this 
prophet  of  the  desert  might  use  his  influence 
with  the  people  to  stimulate  revolutionary  tend- 
encies. The  political  contentions  between  dif- 
ferent Jewish  parties,  and  the  demand  that 
Jesus'  followers  take  sides  in  these  disputes, 
made  a  very  lasting  impression  upon  the  early 
Christians.  It  was  this  situation  that  largely 
furnished  them  the  problems,  the  terminology, 
and  the  imagery  employed  in  shaping  their  own 
distinctive  hopes. 


Apparently  John  the  Baptist  held  to  the 
heavenly  apocalyptic,  rather  than  to  the  na- 
tional Davidic,  type  of  hope.    He  heralded  the 


Early  Christian  Hopes  iii 

advent  of  a  day  of  judgment  when  a  wrathful 
God  would  suddenly  appear  to  hew  down 
sinners.  There  is  no  intimation  that  John 
advocated  a  revolt  against  Rome,  or  that  he 
looked  for  a  Davidic  messianic  prince  to  inau- 
gurate a  new  earthly  regime.  On  the  contrary, 
John  took  his  stand  with  those  who  waited  upon 
the  Almighty  for  deliverance  and  prepared  for 
his  coming  by  purity  of  life.  Like  the  prophets 
of  old,  John  warned  men  of  impending  judg- 
ment and  exhorted  them  to  repent  lest  God 
strike  down  sinful  Jews  along  with  their  hered- 
itary enemies.  The  vehemence  of  John  and  his 
picturesque  activity  as  a  man  of  the  desert 
suggest  that  he  believed  the  catastrophic  end 
to  be  near  at  hand.  Under  these  circumstances 
the  pressing  need  of  the  hour  was  to  deliver  a 
summons  to  repentance  in  order  that  the  Jews 
might  be  prepared  to  enter  the  heavenly  king- 
dom at  its  coming. 

Jesus  had  been  attracted  by  the  preaching  of 
John  and  had  so  far  approved  of  the  new 
prophet's  message  as  to  receive  baptism  at  his 
hands.  Later,  when  Jesus  started  out  upon  his 
own  career  of  preaching  and  teaching,  he  too 
showed  indifference,  if  not  open  hostiHty, 
toward  the  national  hopes  of  the  revolutionists. 


112  The  Millennial  Hope 

He  seems  to  have  advocated  the  principles 
of  the  quietist  party,  leaving  the  solution  of 
political  problems  entirely  in  the  hands  of 
Jehovah.  Although  Jesus  met  his  death  as  a 
political  offender,  there  is  no  evidence  that  he 
was  in  reality  an  advocate  of  revolt.  At  times 
his  popularity  may  easily  have  led  some  of  his 
disciples  to  suspect  that  he  might  become  a 
successful  revolutionary  leader  whom  God 
would  employ  as  his  agent  in  a  war  against 
Rome,  and  the  ever-suspicious  Roman  author- 
ities might  without  difficulty  be  persuaded  to 
class  him  with  other  agitators  who  had  used 
their  popularity  for  political  ends.  But  appar- 
ently Jesus  himself  entertained  no  such  thought. 
Since  Jesus  did  not  adopt  the  hope  of  the 
national  revolutionists,  he  probably  agreed 
with  John  in  expecting  the  ultimate  establish- 
ment by  divine  intervention  of  a  purely  heav- 
enly regime  upon  earth.  In  the  meantime,  by 
cultivating  a  genuinely  righteous  type  of  living, 
men  were  to  prepare  themselves  for  entrance 
into  this  new  kingdom.  Only  those  who  had 
purified  their  inner  motives  and  attained  a  truly 
godlike  quality  of  life  would  find  favor  with 
Jehovah  when  he  came  to  inaugurate  the  new 
order.    Jesus  was  less  severe   than  John  in 


Early  Christian  Hopes  113 

describing  God's  anger.  Divine  love  rather 
than  divine  wrath  was  set  in  the  foreground  of 
Jesus'  teaching  as  he  summoned  his  contem- 
poraries to  prepare  for  the  future.  Yet  those 
who  refused  to  heed  the  call  of  love  would 
undoubtedly  be  rejected  from  the  kingdom. 

In  stressing  chiefly  God's  initiative  in  estab- 
lishing the  new  order,  both  Jesus  and  John 
followed  the  main  current  of  Jewish  apocalyptic 
thinking,  in  which  the  Messiah  usually  played 
a  minor  role.  He  was  to  be  prepared  in  heaven 
by  God  himself,  in  case  God  chose  to  use  a 
Messiah  at  all.  This  official  would  be  an  angel 
in  human  form,  one  like  a  man,  or  a  heavenly 
"son  of  man."  But  whatever  his  form,  he  was 
a  pre-existent  being  who  would  appear  upon  the 
clouds  with  his  angelic  hosts  when  Jehovah 
finally  determined  to  act.  In  the  meantime  the 
apocalyptists  were  chiefly  concerned  with  the 
preliminary  preparation  of  the  people  for  mem- 
bership in  the  coming  heavenly  kingdom. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  would  not  be 
strange  if  both  John  and  Jesus  said  little  or 
nothing  about  the  Messiah's  part  in  the  con- 
summation of  the  people's  hopes.  Nor  would 
it  be  surprising  if  Jesus  refrained  from  speculat- 
ing about  his  own  official  status.    To  be  sure, 


114  The  Millennial  Hope 

soon  after  his  death  the  disciples  began  to  affirm 
that  he  had  now  been  inducted  into  the  office  of 
the  heavenly  Messiah  soon  to  be  revealed,  and 
naturally  they  concluded  that  while  upon  earth 
he  must  himself  have  anticipated  this  result. 
It  was  comparatively  easy  for  them  in  the  later 
stage  of  their  experience  to  identify  the  glorified 
Jesus,  who  had  now  become  a  heavenly  figure, 
with  the  coming  apocalyptic  Messiah.  But 
naturally  they  had  not  succeeded  in  making 
this  identification  while  Jesus  was  their  personal 
companion,  for  current  Jewish  thinking  pro- 
vided no  place  for  a  preliminary  earthly  career 
in  the  program  of  the  apocalyptic  Messiah. 
Nor  is  it  absolutely  certain  that  the  earthly  Jesus 
ever  altered  the  current  apocalyptic  program  so 
radically  as  to  identify  himself  with  its  angel-like 
Messiah. 

II 

When  Jesus  was  crucffied,  the  previous  hopes 
of  his  disciples  suffered  collapse.  Evidently 
they  had  expected  that  he  would  accomplish 
some  sort  of  release  from  the  burden  of  ills 
under  which  the  Jewish  people  were  suffering. 
Some  of  his  closest  companions  had  left  homes 
and  occupations  to  cast  in  their  lot  with  him, 
doubtless  expecting  to  share  in  a  glorious  tri- 


Early  Christian  Hopes  115 

umph.  Then  sudden  death  snatched  him  a  way- 
while  they  were  attending  the  Passover  feast 
in  Jerusalem.  Now  their  hopes  were  shattered 
and  they  returned  home  to  resume  their  former 
occupations. 

What  had  been  the  nature  of  their  expecta- 
tions? It  should  be  remembered  that  they 
were  Palestinian  Jews  by  birth  and  training 
and  shared  that  revulsion  of  feeling  which  every 
loyal  Jew  naturally  entertained  toward  Roman 
oppression.  They  too  were  inheritors  of  all 
past  hopes  of  the  Hebrew  race,  and  they  be- 
longed to  the  populace,  who  were  usually  ready 
to  see  in  any  striking  individual  a  potential 
deliverer,  or  at  least  a  herald  of  coming  deliv- 
erance. Under  these  conditions  the  very  fact 
that  Jesus  attracted  followers  is  in  itself  evi- 
dence of  his  disciples'  readiness  to  regard  him 
either  as  a  possible  leader  of  a  national  messianic 
revolt,  or  else  as  a  prophet  whose  teaching 
would  presage  the  advent  of  an  apocalyptic 
kingdom.  While  the  latter  seems  to  have  been 
Jesus'  own  expectation,  it  would  not  be  strange 
if  some  of  his  followers  entertained  a  faltering 
hope  that  he  would  prove  to  be  God's  chosen 
agent  for  throwing  off  the  Roman  yoke.  But 
Jesus  died,  and  neither  hope  was  fulfilled. 


ii6  The  Millennial  Hope 

After  the  disciples  had  returned  home  to 
GaHlee,  first  one  and  then  others  of  their  com- 
pany became  convinced  that  Jesus  had  appeared 
to  them  in  person  after  his  death.  With  this 
new  conviction  their  shattered  hopes  underwent 
a  sudden  transformation.  The  earthly  Jesus 
had  not  proved  himself  a  national  deliverer  from 
Roman  domination,  nor  had  the  apocalyptic 
kingdom  come  as  the  immediate  result  of  his 
preparatory  work.  Now  a  new  thought  took 
possession  of  them.  Since  the  crucified  Jesus 
had  appeared  to  his  disciples,  they  concluded 
that  he  had  broken  away  from  the  realm  of  the 
dead  in  Sheol  and  had  ascended  to  heaven. 
And  since  he  had  been  taken  up  to  heaven,  they 
might  continue  to  believe  that  this  impressive 
individual  would  after  all  prove  himself  a 
genuine  mediator  of  messianic  deliverance. 
Their  previous  desire  for  a  Davidic  messianic 
kingdom  was  now  completely  abandoned  in 
favor  of  a  revised  form  of  apocalyptic  expecta- 
tion. Their  distinctive  contribution  to  the 
evolution  of  the  apocalyptic  hope — a  contribu- 
tion which  seemed  to  them  to  be  a  veritable 
revelation — was  the  identification  of  the  heav- 
enly exalted  Jesus  of  their  new-found  faith  with 
the  pre-existent  Messiah  of  contemporary  Jew- 


Early  Christian  Hopes  117 

ish  apocalypticism.  Now  they  confidently  af- 
firmed that  through  the  resurrection  and  the 
exaltation  God  had  inducted  the  crucified  Jesus 
into  the  ofiice  of  apocalyptic  Messiah  and  had 
given  him  authority  to  inaugurate  at  an  early 
date  a  new  kingdom  upon  earth.  The  words 
reported  from  Peter's  sermon  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost  epitomize  this  new  Christian  convic- 
tion :  'Xet  all  the  house  of  Israel  therefore  know 
assuredly  that  God  hath  made  him  both  Lord 
and  Christ  [that  is,  "Messiah"],  this  Jesus 
whom  ye  crucified."^ 

Ill 

Christian  hopes  for  the  next  two  generations 
revolve  about  this  primitive  notion  of  the 
heavenly  Christ  soon  to  return  to  inaugurate 
a  new  regime  upon  a  miraculously  renovated 
earth.  This  was  the  message  with  which  the 
earliest  preachers  sought  to  win  their  Jewish 
kinsmen,  and  it  was  also  a  fundamental  item 
in  the  early  preaching  to  the  Gentiles.  In 
giving  a  summary  of  his  work  in  Thessalonica, 
Paul  reminds  the  new  converts  that  they  had 
"turned  unto  God  from  idols  to  serve  a  living 
and  true  God  and  to  wait  for  his  son  from 

^  Acts  2 :  36. 


ii8  The  Millennial  Hope 

heaven,  whom  he  raised  from  the  dead,  even 
Jesus  who  dehvereth  us  from  the  wrath  to 
come."'  These  same  readers  are  admonished 
not  to  forget  that  the  catastrophic  end  of  the 
world  will  overtake  them  suddenly  like  a  thief 
in  the  night,  and  it  will  fare  ill  with  those  who 
are  caught  unawares. 

At  first  this  longed-for  event  was  thought  to 
be  so  near  realization  that  practically  all  Chris- 
tians would  live  to  witness  the  day  of  Jesus' 
return.  It  came  as  a  shock  to  the  Thessalo- 
nians  to  have  some  of  their  number  die  before  the 
advent  of  the  Messiah.  What  a  misfortune  it 
was  to  be  snatched  away  by  death  before  the 
privilege  of  entering  the  new  kingdom  could  be 
realized.  By  way  of  allaying  their  fears  Paul 
assures  the  Thessalonians  that  on  the  last  day 
he  and  others,  who  remain  alive  until  the  Lord 
comes,  are  to  be  no  more  highly  favored  than 
are  the  deceased  Christians.  And  then  he 
ventures  a  specific  description  of  the  final 
spectacle:  ''The  Lord  himself  shall  descend 
from  heaven,  with  a  shout,  with  a  voice  of  the 
archangel,  and  with  the  trump  of  God :  and  the 
dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first;  then  we  that  are 
alive,  that  are  left,  shall  together  with  them  be 

aXhess.  1:9  f. 


Early  Christian  Hopes  119 

caught  up  in  the  clouds,  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the 
air:   and  so  shall  we  ever  be  with  the  Lord.''' 

In  addressing  these  same  Christians  on  a 
later  occasion,  Paul  indulges  in  further  specula- 
tions. He  follows  familiar  Jewish  imagery  in 
portraying  a  climactic  outbreak  of  lawlessness 
at  the  end  of  the  present  age.  The  last  hours 
of  agony  have  not  as  yet  actually  overtaken 
mortals.  Some  restraining  power  still  holds  in 
check  the  ''man  of  sin,"  the  great  demonic 
enemy  of  Christ.  But  in  due  season  he  will  be 
released  to  fill  the  world  with  all  manner  of 
deceptions  and  agony  before  the  Lord  Jesus 
appears  to  slay  this  foe  with  the  breath  of  his 
mouth.^  Ever  since  the  days  of  persecution 
under  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  Jewish  apocalyptic 
had  anticipated  a  final  period  of  distress  mod- 
eled after  that  of  Maccabean  times,  a  kind  of 
darkest  hour  before  the  dawn,  when  hostile 
powers  would  make  a  supreme  but  vain  effort 
to  intrench  themselves  impregnably  in  the 
universe. 

On  still  another  occasion  Paul  enters  upon  a 
vivid  description  of  the  resurrection  as  an  item 
of  Christian  hope.  As  Christ  completes  the 
establishment  of  his  kingdom,  the  last  enemy 

^  I  Thess.  4: 16  f.  2  n  Thess.  2:1-12. 


I20  The  Millennial  Hope 

to  be  conquered  is  the  dreaded  death-demon. 
Deceased  Christians  are  rescued  from  Sheol,  and 
those  still  living  are  so  gloriously  transformed 
that  death  has  no  more  power  over  their  former 
mortal  bodies.  This  change  having  been  ac- 
complished, the  triumph  of  Christ  is  complete 
and  '^  death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory.''  Then 
follows  the  final  act  of  the  great  drama  of 
redemption,  when  Jesus  hands  over  to  God  the 
finished  product  of  his  triumphant  labors.' 

Paul  frequently  stresses  his  beHef  in  the 
impending  end  of  the  world  and  the  speedy 
coming  of  the  day  of  judgment.  On  more  than 
one  occasion  he  signifies  his  own  expectation  of 
living  to  see  that  eventful  day.  He  rejoices  at 
the  thought  of  being  able  to  present  the  con- 
verted Thessalonians  as  his  crown  of  glory 
"before  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  at  his  coming," 
and  he  gladly  endures  all  the  afflictions  attend- 
ing his  missionary  efforts,  buoyed  up  by  the 
thought  that  he  will  soon  be  able  to  present  the 
fruits  of  his  labors  before  God  on  the  last  day. 
Frequently  he  speaks  of  the  brevity  of  the  time 
preceding  the  end.  The  Corinthians  are  ad- 
vised to  refrain  from  litigation  and  await  God's 
impending  judgment  day  for  the  righting  of 

^I  Cor.  15:24-28,  51-57- 


Early  Christian  Hopes  121 

their  wrongs.  Again,  Paul  refers  to  the  faithful 
as  persons  who  are  daily  expecting  the  revela- 
tion of  Jesus  when  the  work  of  every  man  will 
be  tested  by  the  fire  of  judgment.  The  dura- 
tion of  the  present  age  is  so  brief  that  the 
marriage  relationship  and  other  social  obliga- 
tions are  to  be  avoided.  Presently  the  new  age 
will  break,  and  the  time  spent  in  attending  to 
the  ordinary  affairs  of  this  present  life  will  be 
virtually  wasted.  In  writing  to  the  Romans  he 
reminds  them  that  the  night  is  far  spent  and 
that  the  new  day,  when  all  shall  presently  stand 
before  the  judgment  bar  of  God,  is  at  hand. 
Similarly  he  encourages  the  Philippians  to  go 
on  unto  perfection  until  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ, 
confident  that  the  Lord  is  at  hand. 

Paul's  expectation  of  a  new  age  and  his 
depreciation  of  present  conditions  are  an  inte- 
gral part  of  his  cosmic  philosophy.  As  he 
viewed  the  world,  the  supernatural  powers  were 
temporarily  engaged  in  a  tremendous  conflict. 
On  the  one  side  stood  Satan  and  his  hosts  of 
evil  demons  who  had  virtually  taken  possession 
of  the  earth  and  had  established  their  dominion 
even  in  the  regions  above  the  earth.  As  victims 
of  these  demonic  powers,  men  needed  to  be 
delivered   '^out   of   this  present   evil   world.'' 


122  The  Millennial  Hope 

Misfortune,  sickness,  death,  and  the  ills  of  life 
in  general  were  regarded  as  a  direct  result  of 
Satan's  activity.  Paul's  own  infirmity  of  the 
flesh  was  caused  by  '^a  messenger  of  Satan," 
and  the  death  of  Jesus  had  been  brought  about 
by  the  "rulers  of  this  world,"  who  thereby 
unwittingly  contributed  to  their  own  downfall/ 
Over  against  Satan  and  his  hosts  stood  God, 
the  good  angels,  and  now  the  triumphant  heav- 
enly Christ.  According  to  Paul's  imagery, 
Christ  had  been  a  pre-existent  angehc  being  of 
high  rank  before  he  came  to  earth  in  the  person 
of  the  historic  Jesus.  But  for  having  volun- 
tarily submitted  to  the  humiliation  of  an  earthly 
career,  enduring  an  ignominious  death  upon  the 
cross,  God  had  rewarded  him  with  even  a  higher 
heavenly  authority  than  he  had  previously 
possessed.  When  the  forces  of  evil  supposed 
that  they  were  procuring  a  triumph  by  bringing 
about  the  death  of  Jesus  they  were  really  mak- 
ing it  possible  for  him  to  be  exalted  to  a  position 
of  lordship  in  heaven  whence  he  would  presently 
deal  a  death  blow  to  all  demonic  powers.  Be- 
cause of  his  lowly  career  upon  earth,  ending  in 
crucifixion,  "God  highly  exalted  him,  and  gave 
unto  him  the  name  which  is  above  every  name; 

^  I  Cor.  2 : 6-9. 


Early  Christian  Hopes  123 

that  in  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should 
bow,  of  things  in  heaven  and  things  on  earth 
and  things  under  the  earth,  and  that  every 
tongue  should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord, 
to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father."'  For  Paul  the 
crucified  Jesus,  exalted  to  heaven  and  inducted 
into  the  messianic  ofhce,  virtually  stands  at  the 
head  of  the  heavenly  host  already  arrayed  for 
battle  against  Satan  and  his  supporters. 

As  an  outcome  of  this  final  conflict  the 
present  order  of  existence  is  to  perish,  sup- 
planted by  the  new  heavenly  order  brought  to 
earth  by  Jesus.  Believers  in  Christ  will  be 
miraculously  transformed  in  the  twinkling  of  an 
eye,  their  mortal  nature  becoming  suddenly 
immortal  in  order  that  they  may  be  truly  heav- 
enly. But  unbelievers  will  perish  along  with 
the  present  evil  world  of  which  they  are  a  part. 
Paul  believes  that  the  earnest  of  victory  is 
already  realized  by  the  individual  Christian 
even  before  the  end  comes.  The  triumphant 
Christ  even  now,  by  his  spirit's  presence  in 
believers,  enables  them  to  work  miracles,  to 
heal  the  sick,  and  to  live  fearlessly  in  this  world. 
For  the  present  they  tolerate  the  evil  world, 
obeying  heathen  rulers,  serving  as  slaves  in 

^  Phil.  2:9-11. 


124  The  Millennial  Hope 

heathen  households,  Hving  with  heathen  com- 
panions, and  submitting  to  the  present  social 
order.  This  they  do  because  God  in  his  wisdom 
allows  these  conditions  to  continue  for  a  brief 
space  of  tijne.  The  spirit-filled  Christian  pa- 
tiently endures  present  ills,  feeling  that  he  is 
proleptically  a  member  of  the  new  heavenly 
kingdom  to  be  ushered  in  by  the  speedy  advent 
of  Christ.  The  present  evil  order  is  not  to  be 
transformed  by  any  gradual  process  of  social 
betterment  brought  about  through  the  preach- 
ing of  Christianity.  Catastrophic  annihilation 
awaits  the  present  order,  and  the  task  of  the 
Christian  missionary  is  to  effect  such  trans- 
formations in  the  lives  of  individuals  as  will 
prepare  them  for  admission  into  the  new  im- 
pending kingdom  of  heaven.  Apparently  Paul 
had  almost  no  appreciation  of  the  power  of  the 
Christian  propaganda  to  transform  society  in 
this  present  world,  a  power  amply  demonstrated 
in  subsequent  years  when  the  catastrophic  end 
did  not  materialize  and  the  new  religious  move- 
ment gradually  permeated  wider  areas  of  life. 

IV 

Another  distinct  phase  of  early   Christian 
hope  has  been  preserved  in  the  closely  related 


Early  Christian  Hopes  125 

Gospels  of  Mark,  Matthew,  and  Luke — the 
so-called  "Synoptic  Gospels.''  Athough  these 
writers  do  not  carry  their  story  beyond  the 
lifetime  of  Jesus,  their  books  nevertheless  give 
clear  indications  of  the  type  of  Christian  hope 
cherished  by  them  and  their  contemporaries 
during  the  years  70-100  a.d.  The  particular 
words  or  deeds  of  Jesus  which  they  choose  to 
report  often  reveal  their  own  special  interests, 
and  as  a  matter  of  course  their  interpretations 
of  him  and  his  teaching  follow  the  lines  of  their 
own  immediate  needs. 

The  Christian  hope  represented  by  synoptic 
tradition  is  apocalyptic  rather  than  national. 
These  Christians  were  glad  to  recall  that  Jesus 
had  taught  non-resistance,  that  he  had  admitted 
the  propriety  of  paying  tribute  to  Caesar,  and 
that  he  had  set  aside,  as  a  temptation  of  Satan, 
the  suggestion  to  possess  himself  of  the  king- 
doms of  this  world.  These  phases  of  Jesus' 
teaching  stood  his  followers  in  good  stead  both 
during  the  troubled  period  preceding  the  fall  of 
Jerusalem  and  in  succeeding  years  when  com- 
pelled to  face  the  charge  of  disloyalty  hurled 
at  them  by  Jewish  nationalists.  They  did  not 
desire  the  restoration  of  a  Davidic  national 
kingdom,  nor  did  they  believe  that  Jehovah 


126  The  Millennial  Hope 

would  employ  a  revolutionary  leader  as  his 
messianic  agent. 

The  new  kingdom  was  to  be  heavenly,  and  it 
would  be  revealed  with  the  return  of  Jesus.  It 
is  very  true  that  this  event  had  been  longer 
delayed  than  earlier  Christians  had  expected. 
Yet  the  momentous  day  would  surely  come. 
When  Mark  was  written,  it  was  still  confidently 
affirmed  that  Jesus  had  promised  to  return 
while  some  persons  belonging  to  his  own  genera- 
tion were  still  alive.^  Mark  does  not  venture  to 
predict  the  exact  date  of  the  end,  but  he  is  in  a 
state  of  lively  expectancy.  It  is  incumbent 
upon  aU  Christians  to  keep  careful  watch  lest 
they  be  taken  off  their  guard,  for  the  Lord  will 
come  suddenly,  perhaps  at  evening,  at  midnight, 
at  early  dawn,  or  in  the  morning.^  The  other 
synoptic  writers  live  in  this  same  hope  of  seeing 
Jesus  come  triumphantly  upon  the  clouds  of 
heaven  to  destroy  his  enemies  and  set  up  his 
new  kingdom. 

In  its  main  features  the  synoptic  hope  con- 
forms to  the  hope  of  the  first  generation,  yet 
there  are  some  interesting  new  details  in  the 
synoptic  picture.  These  have  been  occasioned 
by  the  delay  in  Christ's  return  and  by  a  growing 

==8:38;  9:1;  13:3-32;  14:62.  *  13:33-37. 


Early  Christian  Hopes  127 

interest  in  the  saving  significance  of  his  previous 
earthly  career.  As  the  years  passed,  Christians 
found  themselves  confronted  by  new  tasks  and 
undergoing  new  experiences  which  contributed 
significantly  toward  their  thinking  regarding 
the  events  to  precede  the  end  of  the  world. 
They  had  endeavored  to  secure  a  suitable  mem- 
bership for  the  new  kingdom  by  preaching  to 
the  Jews,  but  their  efforts  had  not  been  crowned 
with  abundant  success.  Then  they  undertook 
the  task  of  bringing  in  the  Gentiles ;  they  must 
go  out  into  the  byways  and  hedges  in  order  to 
procure  the  proper  quota  of  guests  for  the 
messianic  banquet.  Once  this  task  was  under- 
taken, they  soon  assumed  that  the  new  message 
must  be  proclaimed  throughout  all  gentile  lands 
about  the  Mediterranean  before  the  end  was 
to  be  expected.  They  made  haste  to  accom- 
plish this  work,  nor  did  they  think  its  comple- 
tion a  long  way  off.  Even  late  in  the  fifties 
Paul  could  say  that  the  territory  from  Palestine 
northward  and  westward  to  Illyricum  had  been 
fully  evangelized,  and  since  Rome  had  already 
received  the  gospel  Paul  was  desirous  of  hasten- 
ing on  to  Spain.'  Doubtless  at  that  time,  or 
soon  afterward,  others  were  working  in  Egypt 

^  Rom.  15:19-24. 


128  The  Millennial  Hope 

and  North  Africa,  consequently  Mark  did  not 
have  to  think  of  the  return  of  Christ  as  a  far- 
distant  event  even  though  the  evangeHzation 
of  the  nations  was  a  prehminary  necessity/ 
For  him,  as  for  his  contemporaries,  the  ^^  na- 
tions" meant  merely  the  ancient  Mediterranean 
world  and  not  the  eastern  and  western  hemi- 
spheres of  modern  times. 

The  fall  of  the  Jewish  nation,  accompanied 
by  the  destruction  of  the  temple  in  70  a.d.,  was 
another  event  of  significance  for  determining 
certain  new  features  in  the  evolving  Christian 
hope.  At  first  it  had  been  assumed  that  the 
membership  of  the  new  kingdom  would  be  con- 
stituted solely  of  Jews  who  acknowledged  belief 
in  the  messiahship  of  Jesus.  After  a  few  years' 
experience  the  Christian  preachers  found  Gen- 
tiles more  ready  than  Jews  to  accept  this  new 
teaching.  Even  Paul,  who  had  spent  a  large 
part  of  his  life  evangelizing  Gentiles,  believed 
that  his  own  Jewish  kinsmen  would  ultimately 
be  converted  and  would  constitute  the  bulk  of 
the  new  kingdom's  membership.  Israel  was 
the  main  trunk  of  the  olive  tree,  while  gentile 
converts  were  merely  ingrafted  branches.^  In 
synoptic  tradition  a  new  stage  of  development 

*  13: 10.  2  Rom.,  chaps.  lo  f. 


Early  Christian  Hopes  129 

is  reached,  a  result  due  in  no  small  measure  to 
the  fall  of  Jerusalem.  The  disappointed  Chris- 
tian preacher  was  now  more  ready  than  Paul 
had  been  to  admit  that  God  had  finally  cast  off 
his  chosen  people,  and  was  about  to  prepare 
himself  a  new  people  selected  from  among  the 
Gentiles.  Were  not  the  fall  of  the  Jewish 
nation  and  the  destruction  of  the  temple  clear 
evidence  that  the  Jews  had  been  abandoned? 
The  Synoptic  Gospels  are  pervaded  by  this 
conviction. 

Another  feature  of  Christian  thinking  which 
assumed  more  definite  form  in  synoptic  times 
was  the  relation  of  Jesus'  earthly  career  to  the 
coming  of  the  kingdom.  The  earliest  Chris- 
tians had  their  eyes  fixed  steadfastly  upon  the 
future.  Their  life  of  association  with  Jesus 
was  a  blessed  personal  memory,  rich  no  doubt 
both  in  example  and  in  precept.  But  official 
messiahship  was  thought  to  belong  to  the 
heavenly  Christ,  and  its  exhibition  before  the 
eyes  of  men  was  an  affair  of  the  future.  This 
early  view  had  been  appropriated  by  Paul,  who 
in  spite  of  his  doctrine  of  pre-existence  never 
ventured  to  ascribe  messianic  glory  to  the 
earthly  Jesus.  Upon  earth  he  had  been  a  model 
of  humility  and  servitude,  unadorned  by  any 


130  The  Millennial  Hope 

marks  of  official  dignity  until  God  raised  him 
from  the  dead,  thereby  designating  him  the 
unique  son  of  God  with  new  messianic  power/ 
By  the  time  the  Synoptic  Gospels  were 
written,  reflection  upon  Jesus'  earthly  career 
had  discovered  numerous  evidences  of  messianic 
dignity  in  his  reported  words  and  deeds.  For 
example,  the  demons  had  recognized  him  as 
Messiah  and  had  openly  affirmed  the  fact,  not- 
withstanding his  efforts  to  suppress  this  infor- 
mation. It  was  also  thought  that  later  on  in 
his  career  he  had  tried,  though  on  the  whole 
without  success,  to  reveal  this  truth  to  chosen 
disciples.  At  Caesarea  Philippi  Peter  had 
caught  a  temporary  glimpse  of  the  light,  but 
the  next  moment  he  is  as  blind  as  ever  and 
would  hold  out  to  Jesus  the  Satanic  temptation 
to  establish  a  victorious  earthly  kingdom  of  the 
national  Davidic  type.  But,  according  to  the 
synoptic  writers,  all  the  while  Jesus  knows  that 
he  is  both  the  herald  and  the  inaugurator  of  a 
new  heavenly  kingdom.  Hence  his  personal 
companions  might  certainly  have  perceived  this 
fact  had  they  not  been  dull  of  hearing  and  short 
of  vision.  A  later  and  a  wiser  generation,  to 
which  the  synoptic  authors  themselves  belong, 

^  Rom.  1:4;  Phil.  2:1-10. 


Early  Christian  Hopes  131 

believes  itself   now  in  full  possession  of  the 
truth. 

By  regarding  the  earthly  Jesus  as  already  in  a 
preliminary  way  the  official  apocal3rptic  Mes- 
siah, the  synoptic  writers  showed  the  new 
heavenly  kingdom  to  be  a  realizable,  and  partly 
realized,  fact  in  Jesus'  lifetime.  The  beginning 
of  the  end  had  already  come.  Ever  since  the 
days  of  John  the  Baptist,  when  a  voice  from 
heaven  had  officially  designated  Jesus  as  the 
chosen  son  of  God,  the  kingdom  had  been 
proleptically  present,  so  that  discerning  and 
aggressive  persons  were  able  even  then  to  insure 
themselves  a  place  therein — ^'from  the  days 
of  John  the  Baptist  until  now,  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  suffer eth  violence,  and  men  of  vio- 
lence take  it  by  force. "^  This  preliminary  reali- 
zation is  not  a  substitute  for  the  final,  climactic 
event  when  Christ  will  return  in  full  glory,  but 
it  serves  admirably  to  strengthen  fainting  hopes 
during  days  of  weary  waiting.  Since  the  king- 
dom is  partially  present,  and  since  Christ's 
official  dignity  has  already  been  displayed 
in  preliminary  fashion,  hope  seems  surer  than 
it  would  be  if  the  first  act  in  the  final  drama 
had  not  as  yet  been  staged. 

^  Matt.  11:12. 


132  The  Millennial  Hope 

An  evidence  of  the  kingdom's  presence  during 
Jesus'  lifetime  was  seen  in  his  teaching  activity. 
As  a  prophetic  teacher  he  was  to  the  syn- 
optic writers  not  only  a  herald  of  the  coming 
age,  but  its  actual  minister.  The  necessity  of 
cultivating  a  righteous  life  in  preparation  for 
the  kingdom's  advent  was  a  commonplace  of 
apocalyptic  thinking.  But  Jesus'  synoptic  ad- 
mirers believed  his  message  to  be  so  significant 
that  to  heed  his  words  and  follow  his  precepts 
meant  the  anticipatory  inauguration  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  realized  in  the  lives 
of  his  disciples.  Jesus'  message  falling  as  seed 
into  the  hearts  of  men  and  transforming  their 
lives  by  its  power  marks  the  beginning  of  the 
new  regime  whose  full  glory  is  not  yet  mani- 
fested. But  the  potency  of  the  seed  insures 
successful  growth  and  final  fruitage.  It  is  easy 
for  moderns  to  view  this  success  in  terms  of  the 
gradual  transformation  of  individuals  and  of 
society  by  a  long  process  of  historical  develop- 
ment. But  it  was  equally  easy,  if  not  inevi- 
table, for  Christians  in  the  last  half  of  the  first 
century  to  picture  the  consummation  of  the 
kingdom  as  a  catastrophic  event  following  a 
brief  and  obscure  preliminary  period  of  existence 
upon  earth  extending  from  the  beginning  of 


Early  Christian  Hopes  133 

Jesus'  public  career  until  the  day  of  his  return 
in  glory. 

A  further  evidence  that  the  new  order  had 
already  forced  itself  proleptically  upon  the 
earth  is  seen  in  the  miracles  of  Jesus.  The 
synoptists,  like  Paul,  hold  to  a  dualistic  view 
of  the  world.  Normally  Satan  and  his  emis- 
saries are  very  much  at  home  in  this  present 
world,  but  when  Jesus  appears  the  demons 
recognize  that  he  is  the  mediator  of  a  new  order 
from  above,  deadly  opposed  to  their  regime. 
In  the  story  of  the  temptation,  when  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  old  and  the  new  orders,  respec- 
tively, encounter  one  another,  Jesus  is  easily 
victor.  Henceforth  Satan's  subjects — the  de- 
mons— immediately  recognize  Jesus,  and,  full  of 
fear,  they  hurl  imprecations  at  him  whenever 
he  comes  into  their  presence.  Since  sickness, 
storms,  and  other  harmful  phenomena  were 
credited  to  demonic  activity,  Jesus  as  healer 
and  miracle-worker  is  the  mediator  of  a  new 
regime,  the  minister  of  the  kingdom  of  God  upon 
earth.  To  be  sure,  the  new  kingdom  is  not 
yet  fully  revealed,  and  its  benefits  properly 
accrue  only  to  those  who  exercise  faith,  which 
is  the  indispensable  condition  of  membership 
in  the  new  order  to  be  finally  established  by 


134  The  Millennial  Hope 

Christ  at  his  coming.  In  the  meantime,  how- 
ever, the  ultimate  victory  has  been  fore- 
shadowed by  the  success  of  the  earthly  Jesus, 
who  has  bound  the  strong  man  Satan  and 
plundered  his  house,  wresting  from  him  a  part 
of  his  power  over  mortals. 

Still  other  evidences  that  the  anticipated 
blessings  of  the  heavenly  kingdom  of  God  were 
realized  in  part  during  Jesus'  lifetime  appear 
somewhat  less  pervasively  in  the  Synoptic 
Gospels.  When  John  the  Baptist  is  equated 
with  Elijah,  whose  return  was  to  precede  the 
advent  of  the  new  order,  the  beginning  of 
Jesus'  public  career  is  assumed  to  be  the  initial 
appearance  of  the  new  age.  And  since  the  new 
kingdom,  with  an  earthly  Messiah  at  its  head, 
temporarily  exists  within  the  present  world, 
might  it  not  be  placed  in  loose  relationship  with 
the  national  Davidic  type  of  hope?  This 
possibihty  appealed  to  certain  Christians  in 
synoptic  times,  and  they  proceeded  to  show  that 
Jesus  fulfilled  the  messianic  ideals  of  the  ancient 
prophet  and  was  also  a  lineal  descendant  of 
David.  It  was  very  true  that  the  kingdom 
established  by  Jesus,  as  described  by  these  same 
Christians,  was  not  of  the  original  Davidic  type, 
but  it  strengthened  their  faith  in  the  coming  of 


Early  Christian  Hopes  135 

the  apocalyptic  kingdom,  when  they  were  able 
to  believe  that  all  the  credentials  of  every  type 
of  messianic  hope  were  summed  up  in  Jesus. 

While  Christians  of  this  period  were  dis- 
covering that  the  heavenly  kingdom  of  God  had 
already  been  introduced  upon  earth,  they  did 
not  abandon  the  hope  of  a  catastrophic  end  of 
the  present  world.  They  awaited  impatiently 
the  return  of  Christ  and  the  annihilation  of  evil 
when  distresses  would  cease  for  the  righteous 
and  the  wicked  would  receive  due  punishment. 
The  signs  of  Christ's  coming  and  the  days  of 
excessive  tribulation  to  precede  the  end  are 
items  of  vital  interest  to  all  the  synoptic  writers. 
In  the  wars  of  the  Jews  against  Rome,  in  earth- 
quakes, in  famines,  and  in  their  own  sufferings 
as  Christian  missionaries,  they  see  premonitions 
of  the  final  world-catastrophe.  They  refuse  to 
follow  contemporary  claimants  to  national 
messianic  leadership,  whom  they  regard  as  false 
Christs  or  false  prophets  aiming  to  lead  astray 
the  elect.  On  the  contrary,  they  cling  to  faith 
in  a  returning  apocalyptic  Messiah,  confident 
that  God  will  not  permit  the  days  of  tribulation 
to  continue  beyond  his  elect's  powers  of  endur- 
ance.^ 

'  Mark  13:19-22. 


136  The  Millennial  Hope 

V 

The  Gospel  of  John  represents  a  very  interest- 
ing phase  of  development  in  early  Christian 
hopes.  Its  author  has  no  sympathy  with  the 
national  ambitions  of  the  Jews,  and  he  is  only 
half-heartedly  interested  in  apocalyptic  expec- 
tations. A  return  of  Jesus  is  predicted,  and 
several  references  are  made  to  the  resurrection 
on  the  ^^last  day,'''  but  in  the  immediate  context 
these  more  primitive  ideas  are  overlaid  by  other 
notions  having  little  or  nothing  in  common  with 
traditional  views.  Although  when  about  to  be 
removed  by  death  Jesus  says,  ^^I  come  again," 
the  purpose  of  his  return  as  described  by  John 
is  not  to  introduce  an  apocalyptic  kingdom 
upon  earth.  On  the  contrary,  he  comes  to 
remove  faithful  Christians  from  their  earthly 
labors  to  mansions  awaiting  them  in  heaven.^ 
This  use  of  popular  apocalyptic  terminology 
might  possibly  satisfy  one  who  still  believed 
in  a  literal  second  coming,  but  the  author's  own 
thinking  has  moved  far  away  from  this  primitive 
imagery. 

Similarly  references  to  the  resurrection  and 
the  judgment  are  hardly  more  than  mere  points 

'5:21-29;  6:39-54;  11:24-26;  12:48. 
"14:2  f. 


Early  Christian  Hopes  137 

of  departure  for  the  exposition  of  a  funda- 
mentally different  type  of  teaching.  At  one 
moment  the  final  resurrection  of  the  dead  and 
the  execution  of  judgment  on  the  last  day  are 
affirmed  as  prerogatives  of  the  returning  Jesus, 
but  in  the  next  breath  our  author  declares  that 
resurrection  to  eternal  life  is  a  present  experi- 
ence, which  virtually  nullifies  the  older  teaching 
about  judgment.  The  matter  is  stated  very 
emphatically:  '^Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you. 
He  that  heareth  my  word,  and  believeth  him 
that  sent  me,  hath  eternal  life,  and  cometh  not 
into  judgment,  but  hath  passed  out  of  death 
into  life.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  The 
hour  cometh,  and  now  is,  when  the  dead  shall 
hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God;  and  they  that 
hear  shall  live."^  Yet,  side  by  side  with  these 
affirmations  regarding  the  determining  effect 
of  Jesus'  present  work,  we  again  read:  ^^The 
hour  cometh,  in  which  all  that  are  in  the  tombs 
shall  hear  his  [Jesus']  voice,  and  shall  come 
forth;  they  that  have  done  good,  unto  the 
resurrection  of  life;  and  they  that  have  done 
evil,  unto  the  resurrection  of  judgment."^  A 
perusal  of  the  Gospel  as  a  whole,  however, 
makes  it  perfectly  clear  that  the  author  is 


138  The  Millennial  Hope 

chiefly  interested  in  the  resuscitating  and  deter- 
mining power  of  Jesus'  teaching  rather  than  in 
traditional  apocalyptic  imagery.  There  is  no 
outright  opposition  to  the  latter,  but  it  is 
largely  divested  of  its  earlier  importance  by  a 
new  interpretation  of  the  significance  of  Jesus' 
mission  upon  earth. 

According  to  this  Gospel,  the  kingdom  of  God 
had  already  been  inaugurated  through  the 
earthly  work  of  Jesus.  This  kingdom  is  not  a 
rehabilitation  of  Jewish  national  supremacy, 
nor  is  it  a  mere  foreshadowing  of  an  imminent 
apocalyptic  regime  to  be  consummated  by  an 
impending  catastrophe.  Yet  it  is  purely  heav- 
enly in  its  nature,  a  kingdom  not  of  this  world, 
but  from  above;  neither  national  nor  apocalyp- 
tic, but  a  kingdom  of  divine  truth.  When 
asked  if  he  is  a  king,  Jesus  aflirms,  "To  this  end 
have  I  been  born,  and  to  this  end  am  I  come 
into  the  world,  that  I  should  bear  witness  unto 
the  truth.  Every  one  that  is  of  the  truth 
heareth  my  voice. "^  Thus  a  new  heavenly 
regime  has  been  begun  upon  earth  through  the 
communication  of  newly  revealed  divine  knowl- 
edge brought  down  from  heaven  by  Jesus. 
Those  who  enter  this  kingdom  must  themselves 

^18:37. 


Early  Christian  Hopes  139 

be  born  from  above/  and  the  new  order  ap- 
proaches consummation  gradually  as  men  in 
increasing  numbers  appropriate  heavenly  wis- 
dom and  cultivate  the  truly  enlightened  type 
of  Hfe. 

Thus  the  new  age  has  already  dawned.  It 
began  with  the  incarnation  when  the  divine 
Logos,  the  ''Word,"  entered  the  fleshly  abode, 
thereby  becoming  concretely  observable  by 
men.  The  process  of  growth  was  greatly 
stimulated  through  Jesus'  public  ministry  as 
he  went  about  declaring  himself  to  be  the 
embodiment  of  God's  message  of  truth  and 
light  to  a  world  lying  in  darkness.  As  many 
as  received  his  word  became  children  of  the  light 
and  full-fledged  members  in  the  new  kingdom 
of  truth.  After  Jesus'  death  the  task  of  per- 
petuating the  kingdom  fell  to  the  lot  of  the 
disciples,  who  were  henceforth  possessed  of  an 
especial  measure  of  the  Spirit  to  guide  them 
into  all  truth.  As  this  revelation  is  conveyed 
through  ever-expanding  circles,  the  establish- 
ment of  the  new  order  becomes  more  nearly 
complete.  The  process  is  a  gradual  one,  and 
the  results  are  to  be  obtained  through  the 
activity  of  human  agents.     Yet  it  would  be  a 


I40  The  Millennial  Hope 

grave  error  to  imagine  that  the  writer  of  the 
Fourth  Gospel  regarded  the  new  regime  as  in 
any  fundamental  sense  a  product  of  human 
effort.  Its  founder,  Jesus,  came  from  heaven 
with  the  new  light,  a  divine  enlightenment 
equivalent  to  a  new  birth  was  necessary  for 
admission  into  the  new  society,  and  the  gift  of 
eternal  life  which  membership  conferred  was 
synonymous  with  the  knowledge  of  God  as 
revealed  in  the  person  and  work  of  Jesus  Christ.' 
The  hope  of  Christians  of  the  Johannine  type 
was  pre-eminently  individualistic.  They  re- 
tained certain  formal  aspects  of  the  older 
apocalyptic  hope,  and  spoke  of  a  far-off  day 
when  the  dead  would  be  raised  and  the  final 
judgment  enacted.  But  their  primary  interest 
was  to  secure  the  salvation  of  the  individual  by 
establishing  in  him  the  new  kingdom  of  divine 
enlightenment.  When  this  task  was  accom- 
pHshed,  the  believer  had  undergone  a  veritable 
resurrection  to  life,  and  had  nothing  to  fear  for 
the  future.  On  the  other  hand,  he  who  rejected 
the  light  was  immediately  and  eternally  con- 
demned. At  death  the  deceased  went  directly 
to  his  reward,  and  his  status  would  not  be 
altered  by  any  event  to  occur  on  the  day  of  judg- 


Early  Christian  Hopes  141 

ment.  The  Fourth  Gospel  offers  no  immediate 
hope  of  escape  from  the  present  order  of  exist- 
ence through  any  sudden  annihilation  of  evil. 
Hope  lay  rather  in  appropriating  the  divine 
assistance  which  God  had  provided.  It  was 
not  Jesus'  purpose  to  destroy  this  world,  nor 
would  he  be  unduly  hasty  in  removing  from  his 
disciples  the  pressure  of  its  ills.  But  he  would 
give  them  ample  power  to  resist  evil,  and  they 
were  guaranteed  a  blessed  abode  with  him  in 
heaven    when    their    work    upon    earth    was 

accomplished. 

VI 

With  the  passing  of  the  years,  as  the  Lord 
delayed  his  return  and  Christians  began  to  feel 
more  at  home  in  the  present  world,  they  easily 
drifted  into  the  habit  of  believing  that  the  new 
regime  had  already  been  inaugurated,  at  least 
in  some  substantial  preliminary  manner.  This 
tendency,  as  we  have  had  occasion  to  note,  was 
already  manifest  in  the  Synoptic  Gospels,  and 
it  had  made  remarkable  progress  in  the  circle 
of  Christian  thinking  represented  by  the  Gospel 
of  John.  But  among  those  groups  of  Chris- 
tians who  first  experienced  persecution  at  the 
hands  of  the  Roman  authorities,  the  smoldering 
embers  of  the  apocalyptic  hope  occasionally 


142  The  Millennial  Hope 

burst  into  new  flames.  New  trials  readily  sug- 
gested the  last  woes  depicted  in  apocalyptic 
imagery,  and  the  helplessness  of  the  Christians 
to  defend  them;  elves  against  the  gigantic  power 
of  Rome  impeli  d  them  to  picture  a  purely 
supernatural  triumph  to  be  procured  by  the 
coming  of  Christ  with  his  angelic  hosts. 

The  first  epistle  of  Peter  was  written  pri- 
marily to  encourage  Christians  in  an  hour  of 
persecution.  They  were  admonished  to  endure 
present  ills,  being  comforted  by  the  thought 
that  the  end  of  all  things  was  at  hand.  Their 
sufferings  merely  marked  a  preliminary  stage 
in  the  final  period  of  agony  which  apocalyptic 
thinking  placed  immediately  before  the  day  of 
judgment.  On  that  day  the  sufferings  of  their 
enemies  would  be  manifoldly  greater  than  their 
own  had  previously  been.^  Since  Jesus  is  on 
God's  right  hand,  and  endowed  with  supreme 
authority,  the  hope  of  the  persecuted  Christians 
is  secure.  Present  distresses  are  as  nothing  in 
comparison  with  the  praise  and  glory  which 
presently  are  to  be  theirs  when  Christ  is 
suddenly  revealed  coming  in  power  on  the 
clouds  to  destroy  sinners  and  establish  a  king- 
dom upon  earth.^ 

'4-7,  17  f'  '1:5-7;  4:12  f.;  5:4. 


Early  Christian  Hopes  143 

The  Book  of  Revelation  is  the  classic  Chris- 
tian document  exhibiting  the  use  of  the  apoc- 
alyptic hope  as  an  antidote  to  the  sufferings  of 
the  persecuted.  The  book  reflects  conditions 
affecting  more  or  less  widely  groups  of  churches 
in  Western  Asia  Minor  in  the  last  decade  of  the 
first  century.  By  this  time  the  worship  of  the 
Roman  emperor  had  been  established  at  various 
places  about  the  eastern  Mediterranean,  and 
certain  zealous  ofi&cials  of  the  cult  discovered 
that  Christians  would  neither  confess  the  lord- 
ship of  Caesar  nor  offer  incense  before  his 
image.  Some  of  their  number  had  been  ar- 
rested, put  to  the  test,  and  severely  punished 
for  their  refusal  to  conform  to  Rome's  demand. 
The  author  of  Revelation,  who  styles  himself 
simply  ^^  John  your  brother  and  fellow  partaker 
in  tribulation,"  was  among  the  suspected.  He 
had  either  fled,  or  been  banished,  to  the  lonely 
island  of  Patmos,  where  he  meditated  much 
upon  the  recent  misfortunes  of  Christians  and 
painted  in  gorgeous  colors  his  picture  of  coming 
deliverance. 

One  Lord's  Day,  while  reflecting  upon  the 
troubled  state  of  affairs,  John  had  a  remarkable 
experience.  He  seemed  to  hear  a  mighty  voice 
speaking  to  him  and  to  see  wonderful  visions  in 


144  The  Millennial  Hope 

heaven,  disclosing  the  secrets  of  God's  purposes 
in  history.  This  type  of  experience  was  not 
an  entirely  novel  thing.  It  had  already  been 
depicted  in  numerous  Jewish  apocalypses,  with 
some  of  which  John  was  no  doubt  familiar. 
The  stress  of  his  own  times,  the  memory  of 
similar  periods  of  tribulation  in  the  history  of 
the  Jews,  and  his  own  ecstatic  temperament,  all 
combined  to  produce  that  exalted  and  con- 
fident state  of  mind  which  enabled  him  to 
portray  with  absolute  assurance  the  speedy 
advent  of  Christ  to  bring  an  end  to  the  present 
world.  The  daring  flights  of  his  own  imagina- 
tion, whether  resulting  from  deliberate  reflection 
or  from  ecstatic  inspiration,  or  from  both, 
greatly  strengthened  his  powers  of  endurance, 
and  he  passed  on  his  convictions  to  his  afflicted 
friends  in  the  hope  they  they  too  might  be 
similarly  heartened.  The  theme  of  his  book 
is  tersely  stated:  "Behold  he  [Christ]  cometh 
with  the  clouds;  and  every  eye  shall  see  him, 
and  they  that  pierced  him;  and  all  the  tribes 
of  the  earth  shall  mourn  over  him."'  At  the 
moment  Christians  were  mourning  because  of 
their  troubles,  but  in  future  their  sorrow  would 
be  turned  into  joy  as  they  beheld  their  enemies 

'  Rev.  1 : 7. 


Early  Christian  Hopes  145 

lamenting  at  the  approach  of  the  victorious 
Christ. 

The  main  features  in  John's  portrayal  of  the 
Christian  hope  stand  out  clearly.^  First  he 
addresses  a  series  of  warnings  to  the  churches, 
admonishing  the  members  to  purify  themselves 
in  preparation  for  approaching  judgment.  In 
all  apocalyptic  teaching  purity  of  life  is  a  pre- 
requisite to  admission  into  the  new  kingdom. 
Sometimes  John  is  able  to  commend  the  churches 
for  their  past  conduct,  while  at  other  times  he 
utters  harsh  reprimands.  He  is  particularly 
severe  upon  those  who  show  a  disposition  to 
compromise  with  heathenism.  Firmly  believ- 
ing that  the  present  world  is  soon  to  perish,  he 
adopts  a  policy  of  open  defiance  rather  than  one 
of  adjustment  to  prevailing  conditions.  Other 
Christians  may  have  been  less  confident  that 
God  would  intervene  thus  violently  to  relieve 
them  of  their  foes,  and  consequently  they  may 
at  times  have  been  disposed  to  adopt  a  con- 
ciliatory policy.  With  such  a  course  of  pro- 
cedure John  had  not  the  slightest  sympathy. 

^  For  an  analytical  paraphrase  of  Revelation  see  S.  J.  Case, 
The  Book  of  Revelation,  an  outline  Bible-study  course  of  the  Amer- 
ican Institute  of  Sacred  Literature,  Hyde  Park,  Chicago,  Illinois; 
reprinted  from  the  Biblical  World,  L  (1917),  192-200,  251-64; 
321-28;    382-90. 


146  The  Millennial  Hope 

After  delivering  warnings  to  the  churches, 
the  seer  proceeds  to  describe  his  heavenly 
visions.  In  the  first  place,  he  assures  suffering 
Christians  that  the  power  and  glory  of  heaven 
remain  unsurpassed.  God  is  seen  seated  upon 
his  throne  and  resembling  a  magnificent,  jewel- 
bedecked  rainbow.  He  is  surrounded  by  a 
stately  court  of  angelic  beings,  who  cease  not 
day  nor  night  to  proclaim  his  holiness,  declaring 
him  to  be  ^^the  Lord  God  Almighty,  who  was, 
and  who  is,  and  who  is  to  come."  Christ,  also 
seen  in  God's  presence,  exhibits  his  superior 
power  by  opening  a  magic  book  whose  seals  no 
one  heretofore  had  been  able  to  break.  To  this 
mighty  Christ  the  angelic  choir  renders  fulsome 
praise,  ascribing  to  him  honor  and  glory  and 
eternal  dominion.  Surely  persecuted  Christians 
who  are  suffering  in  loyalty  to  this  almighty 
God  and  his  powerful  Christ  need  have  no 
doubt  as  to  their  ultimate  vindication. 

Then  follows  a  series  of  visions  revealed  in 
the  great  picture  book  which  the  heavenly 
Christ  has  unsealed.  These  make  evident  the 
fact  that  earthly  woes  are  not  due  to  God's 
neglect  of  his  creatures,  but  are  a  part  of  the 
divine  plan.  Assurances  of  God's  care  become 
doubly  strong  when  John  sees  the  souls  of 


Early  Christian  Hopes  147 

Christian  martyrs  stored  up  under  the  altar  in 
heaven  where  they  cry  to  God  to  avenge  their 
blood.  Their  cry  is  not  in  vain,  but  before  they 
can  be  avenged  their  fellow-servants  and 
brethren  must  be  given  a  fitting  opportunity  to 
win  the  martyr's  crown.  Amid  all  the  terrors 
of  these  last  days,  when  the  earth  is  to  be 
smitten  with  destruction,  the  seas  troubled,  and 
the  sun  darkened,  God's  saints  shall  be  pre- 
served in  safety,  having  been  marked  by  a  seal 
upon  their  foreheads.  Language  almost  fails 
the  author  when  he  tries  to  describe  his  vision 
of  the  glory  awaiting  those  who  have  come  out 
of  the  great  tribulation  into  the  presence  of 
God:  ''They  shall  hunger  no  more,  neither 
thirst  any  more;  neither  shall  the  sun  strike 
upon  them,  nor  any  heat:  for  the  Lamb  that 
is  in  the  midst  of  the  throne  shall  be  their 
shepherd,  and  shall  guide  them  unto  fountains 
of  waters  of  life :  and  God  shall  wipe  away  every 
tear  from  their  eyes."' 

After  learning  from  his  visions  that  God 
intends  to  smite  the  earth  with  still  greater 
woes,  John  is  privileged  to  observe  the  future 
activity  of  the  demonic  powers.  He  sees  a 
picture  of  the  battle  to  be  staged  between  the 

^  7:16  f. 


148  The  Millennial  Hope 

angelic  hosts  of  heaven  led  by  Michael  and 
the  demonic  hosts  with  Satan  at  their  head. 
The  consequent  ejection  of  Satan  from  heaven 
means  the  inauguration  of  the  period  of  final 
tribulation  for  mortals,  upon  whom  the  demons 
now  center  their  attack.  During  this  period  of 
three  and  a  half  years  Christians  will  endure 
great  agony,  but  their  ultimate  rescue  is  certain. 
Nor  is  the  day  of  their  deliverance  to  be  long 
postponed.  Even  Satan  himself  knows  that  he 
has  been  allotted  "but  a  short  time"  for  his 
final  onslaught  upon  Christians. 

During  the  period  of  great  tribulation  Satan's 
chief  representatives  upon  earth  are  the  arro- 
gant Roman  emperor  and  the  priest  in  charge 
of  his  cult,  the  two  individuals  whom  John 
pictures  as  "beasts.'^  The  zealous  priest  will 
require  even  those  engaged  in  the  ordinary 
pursuits  of  life  to  be  provided  with  a  certificate 
showing  that  they  have  taken  part  in  the  rites 
of  the  imperial  cult.  The  number  that  would 
be  stamped  upon  the  certificate  suggests  to 
John  a  veiled  way  of  revealing  to  his  readers 
the  identity  of  the  imperial  "beast"  to  rule 
during  this  final  period  of  distress.  By  selecting 
666  as  the  cryptic  number  John  points  to  Nero, 
the  number  being  obtained  by  adding  together 


Early  Christian  Hopes  149 

the  numerical  values  of  the  letters  in  the  words 
^^  Nero  Caesar."  This  thoroughgoing  insistence 
upon  the  worship  of  the  emperor  will  be  an 
especially  severe  blow  to  the  Christians,  but 
their  courage  is  reinforced  by  a  new  picture. 
A  band  of  triumphant  saints  is  seen  singing  an 
exclusive  hymn  of  praise  to  God  in  honor  of 
his  saving  power. 

John's  description  of  the  afflictions  to  be 
endured  by  the  righteous  is  followed  by  a  still 
more  vivid  picture  of  the  destruction  and  doom 
to  overtake  sinners.  Angels  of  destruction  sent 
by  God  smite  the  earth  with  portions  of  the 
divine  wrath,  but  the  punishment  to  be  meted 
out  to  Rome  is  especially  severe.  Again  in  a 
veiled  way  John  assures  his  readers  that  the 
end  of  the  imperial  regime  is  near.  The 
demonic  ruler  who  holds  sway  in  the  period  of 
final  tribulation  is  reckoned  as  the  eighth 
emperor,  yet  he  is  one  of  the  seven  who  have 
preceded  him;  that  is,  he  is  a  reincarnation  of  a 
previous  ruler.  Since  Nero,  already  identified 
by  the  number  666,  was  remembered  as  the 
worst  of  the  Roman  emperors,  his  return 
seemed  to  John  a  fitting  climax  for  the  course 
of  Satan's  activities  upon  the  earth.  In  order 
to   assure   Christians   that   the   day   of   their 


150  The  Millennial  Hope 

deliverance  is  not  far  off,  John  informs  his 
readers  that  the  emperor  (Domitian,  81-96 
A.D.)  under  whom  they  are  now  suffering  will 
be  followed  by  another  who  shall  reign  for 
only  a  brief  period  before  the  demonic  Nero 
returns  to  set  up  his  Satanic  dominion  which  is 
to  endure  just  three  and  a  half  years.'  Hence 
John  must  have  expected  the  end  to  come  early 
in  the  second  century  a.d. 

John's  imagination  glows  with  a  white  heat 
as  he  pictures  the  final  scenes  in  the  impending 
world-drama.  Seven  angels  are  commissioned 
to  pour  forth  upon  earth  the  last  plagues.  The 
heathen  Romans  are  to  be  smitten  with  pes- 
tilences, the  sea  and  the  rivers  are  to  be  turned 
into  blood,  the  heat  of  the  sun  is  to  become 
unendurable,  the  throne  of  the  emperor  is  to 
be  demolished,  and  the  river  Euphrates  is  to  be 
dried  up  in  order  that  mythical  demonic  hordes 
from  the  East  may  assemble  for  the  final  conflict 
at  Har-Magedon.  Then  follows  a  vivid  descrip- 
tion of  Rome's  downfall,  when  all  her  wealth 
and  power  perish  in  an  instant.  ^^Woe,  woe, 
the  great  city,  wherein  all  that  had  their  ships 
in  the  sea  were  made  rich  by  reason  of  her 
costliness !  for  in  one  hour  she  is  made  desolate. 

^  ii:2f.;   12:6,  14;   13:5. 


Early  Christian  Hopes  151 

Rejoice  over  her,  thou  heaven,  and  ye  saints, 
and  ye  apostles,  and  ye  prophets;  for  God  hath 
judged  your  judgment  on  her.'^' 

The  destruction  of  Rome  will  be  followed  by 
further  misfortunes  for  Satan  and  his  subjects, 
who  are  now  to  be  driven  from  the  earth  as 
effectively  as  they  had  previously  been  ejected 
from  heaven.  This  victory  is  to  be  accom- 
plished by  the  armies  of  heaven  under  the 
leadership  of  a  warrior  Messiah.  With  eyes 
like  flaming  fire  and  wearing  many  crowns,  this 
champion  comes  forth  in  blood-sprinkled  gar- 
ments to  perform  a  mighty  feat  of  carnage. 
Only  the  emperor  and  his  prophet  are  saved 
alive,  but  this  is  in  order  that  they  may  be  cast 
into  the  burning  lake  of  fire.  All  other  foes 
are  slaughtered,  birds  of  heaven  being  sum- 
moned to  feast  upon  the  carcasses  of  the  slain. 
At  the  same  time  Satan  himself,  bound  by  an 
angel,  is  cast  into  the  abyss. 

At  this  point  John  introduces  into  his  picture 
a  feature  not  previously  exhibited  in  Christian 
apocalyptic  thinking,  but  one  familiar  in  certain 
Jewish  circles.  He  describes  an  intermediate 
messianic  age  to  be  estabHshed  on  earth  for 
one  thousand  years — a  millennium — when  the 

^  18:19  f. 


152  The  Millennial  Hope 

souls  of  those  who  have  died  for  the  faith  are 
restored  to  earth  where  they  spend  one  thousand 
years  of  bhss  with  Christ.  As  in  similar  Jewish 
imagery,  the  old  prophetic  idea  of  a  blessed 
earthly  kingdom  is  thus  reinstated,  but  its  glory 
is  quite  outshone  by  the  picture  of  the  new 
heavenly  kingdom  to  be  established  at  the  close 
of  the  millennium. 

The  final  picture  in  Revelation  is  one  of 
complete  triumph.  As  the  millennium  draws  to 
an  end,  Satan  will  be  released  from  the  abyss 
to  assemble  new  enemies  from  more  distant 
parts  to  attack  the  saints  now  dwelling  with 
Christ  in  Jerusalem.  But  a  devouring  fire  will 
descend  from  heaven  to  destroy  Satan's  armies, 
and  he  himself  will  be  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire 
where  the  persecuting  emperor  and  his  priest 
have  been  in  torment  during  the  past  one 
thousand  years.  Then  comes  the  final  judg- 
ment when  all  the  dead  shall  be  raised  to  receive 
eternal  rewards  and  punishments  according  to 
their  deserts.  A  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth 
will  be  revealed,  and  the  righteous  shall  dwell 
eternally  in  a  new  Jerusalem,  let  down  from 
heaven  and  adorned  as  a  bride  for  her  husband. 
But  the  wicked  shall  be  cast  into  the  lake  that 
burns  with  fire  and  brimstone.     The  author 


Early  Christian  Hopes  153 

well-nigh  bankrupts  language  in  his  efforts  to 
describe  the  glories  of  the  New  Jerusalem  with 
its  jeweled  gates  and  its  golden  streets. 

John  not  only  holds  out  to  his  suffering 
brethren  the  hope  of  participation  in  the  glories 
of  the  New  Jerusalem,  but  he  insists  that  his 
visions  insure  an  early  relief  for  their  present 
distresses.  The  return  of  Christ  to  destroy  the 
power  of  Satan  and  to  establish  the  millennial 
interregnum  is  to  be  looked  for  in  the  very  near 
future.  John  is  convinced  that  his  own  visions 
are  God^s  means  of  showing  unto  his  servants 
"the  things  which  must  shortly  come  to  pass."' 
The  book  is  not  to  be  sealed  up  for  use  in  some 
distant  day;  it  is  designed  for  immediate 
application  to  the  present  conditions  of  Chris- 
tians, "for  the  time  is  at  hand."^  And  in  order 
doubly  to  emphasize  his  conviction  that  no 
long  years  would  intervene  to  demand  altera- 
tions in  his  imagery,  he  solemnly  pronounces  a 
curse  upon  any  man  who  shall  add  to  or  sub- 
tract from  the  words  written  in  his  book.^  Yet 
how  freely  millenarians  in  subsequent  years 
have  discarded  his  warning,  distorting  his 
language  to  suit  the  flights  and  the  flightiness 
of  their  own  imaginations. 

*22:6  ^22:10  322:18 


154  The  Millennial  Hope 

While  this  sketch  of  early  Christian  hopes 
shows  certain  variations  due  in  large  measure 
to  occasional  demands  for  readjustment,  their 
main  content  during  the  first  century  was 
distinctly  Jewish  and  apocalyptic.  Even  the 
first  Christians  had  no  incentive  for  desiring  the 
restoration  of  an  idealized  Jewish  nationality, 
and  this  type  of  hope  became  utterly  impossible 
when  the  new  religion  abandoned  Palestine  and 
made  its  home  in  gentile  lands.  But  at  no 
time  in  this  period  did  Christians  generally 
come  to  realize  that  it  was  their  mission  to  win 
the  world  by  a  gradual  process  of  spiritual 
transformation.  Only  in  the  Fourth  Gospel 
does  the  consciousness  of  this  task  seem  to  be 
awakening,  but  even  here  it  does  not  come  to 
clear  and  full  expression.  In  the  main,  Chris- 
tianity still  felt  itself  so  foreign  to  the  genius  of 
the  present  world  that  conquest  by  a  normal 
process  of  expansion  seemed  out  of  the  question. 
To  Christians  of  that  day  the  catastrophic  end 
of  the  present  order  and  the  inauguration  of  a 
miraculous  kingdom  from  above  seemed  to  be 
the  only  adequate  way  of  expressing  worthily 
their  faith  in  the  triumphant  power  of  God. 


CHAPTER  IV 

LATER  CHRISTIAN  HOPES 

As  the  Christian  movement  gathered  mo- 
mentum, gradually  winning  for  itself  a  more 
substantial  place  within  the  ancient  world,  the 
millennial  type  of  hope  suffered  a  corresponding 
loss  of  popularity.  The  lapse  of  time  proved 
that  the  vivid  expectancy  of  earlier  days  had 
not  been  justified,  and  the  success  of  Christian- 
ity on  the  present  earth  lessened  the  demand  for 
an  early  catastrophic  end  of  the  world.  With 
the  passing  of  the  years  believers  became 
increasingly  content  to  hope  for  a  blessed 
abode  in  heaven  to  be  attained  by  individual 
souls  immediately  after  death.  Millennial  spec- 
ulations were  not  always  completely  abandoned, 
but  they  were  projected  farther  and  farther 
into  the  future,  thereby  losing  their  original 
spontaneity  and  becoming  more  doctrinaire 
in  character.  It  remains  to  sketch  briefly 
the  course  of  this  development  from  the 
second  century  a.d.  down  to  the  present 
time. 

155 


156  The  Millennial  Hope 

I 

While  the  new  religion  was  struggling  for 
recognition  in  the  Roman  state,  certain  Chris- 
tian leaders  still  cherished  millennial  hopes. 
As  early  as  the  first  decade  of  the  second  century 
a  handbook  of  instruction  prepared  for  the  use 
of  Christian  communities  in  Syria  closed  with 
the  admonition  to  watch,  "for  you  know  not 
the  hour  in  which  our  Lord  cometh."  The 
last  days  are  to  be  times  of  distress  when  law- 
lessness will  multiply  and  deceivers  arise  to  lead 
astray  the  faithful.  Then  will  appear  the  arch- 
deceiver  working  wonders  and  signs  and  taking 
possession  of  the  earth.  When  evil  has  reached 
its  zenith  a  fire  of  testing  will  fall  upon  the 
earth,  destroying  many,  but  Christians  will  be 
saved.  A  rift  will  be  seen  in  the  heavens,  a 
trumpet  will  sound,  the  dead  saints  will  be 
raised,  and  the  Lord  will  appear  coming  upon 
the  clouds  of  heaven.' 

In  the  next  decade  Ignatius  of  Antioch  and 
his  contemporary  Polycarp  of  Smyrna  believed 
that  they  were  already  living  in  the  last  times 
when  the  end  of  all  things  was  imminent.  In 
this  confidence  each  of  these  worthies  ultimately 
met  a  martyr's  death,   exhorting  their  con- 

^  Didache,  chap.  16. 


Later  Christian  Hopes  157 

temporaries  to  fear  the  wrath  to  come  when  the 
wicked  would  be  cast  into  the  unquenchable 
fires  of  eternal  torment,  while  deceased  believers 
would  be  raised  to  participate  in  the  triumphs 
of  the  judgment  day  and  to  reign  with  Christ 
in  glory.^ 

Another  Christian  of  this  period,  probably 
residing  in  Egypt,  expresses  the  same  type  of 
hope  in  a  document  wrongly  ascribed  to  Barna- 
bas. He  exhorts  his  readers  to  shun  the  works 
of  lawlessness,  loathing  the  error  of  the  present 
time,  in  order  that  they  may  be  favored  in  the 
time  to  come.  The  season  of  final  distress  is 
already  drawing  to  a  close,  the  time  having  been 
shortened  in  order  that  the  victorious  Christ 
might  more  quickly  enter  into  his  inheritance. 
The  imminent  day  of  judgment  will  bring  an 
end  to  all  evil.  Those  who  crucified  Jesus  will 
behold  him  descending  from  heaven  attired  in 
regal  splendor  to  punish  the  wicked  and  to 
receive  into  his  kingdom  all  who  have  suffered 
affiction  in  consequence  of  their  loyalty  to  him. 
As  a  preliminary  stage  in  the  process  by  which 
the  creation  is  finally  to  be  restored  to  its 
original  perfection,  through  the  remission  of 

^Ignatius,  Eph.  ii:i;    i6:i  f.;    Mag.  5:1;    Polycarp,  Phil. 
2:1  f.;  5:2;   11:2;  Martyr.  Poly.  2:3;   11:2. 


158  The  Millennial  Hope 

their  sins  Christians  have  already  become  a 
new  type,  a  re-created  humanity.  The  full 
consummation  of  this  process  is  presently  to  be 
realized  when  believers  are  to  be  made  perfect. 
The  end  is  to  be  attained  six  thousand  years 
after  the  creation,  each  day  of  creation  week 
representing  one  thousand  years  in  the  duration 
of  the  world.  Then  God  will  send  his  son  to 
abolish  the  reign  of  the  lawless  ones,  to  judge 
the  ungodly,  to  change  sun,  moon,  and  stars, 
and  to  introduce  a  rest  day  of  one  thousand 
years  answering  to  the  Sabbath  following  the 
work  of  creation.  At  the  close  of  this  millen- 
nium a  still  greater  transformation  will  be 
accomplished,  inaugurating  an  eighth  day  which 
is  the  beginning  of  another  world  at  present 
typified  by  the  Christian  Sunday.^ 

Papias,  a  Christian  of  Hierapolis,  also 
belonging  to  the  first  half  of  the  second  century, 
portrayed  the  blessings  of  the  impending  mil- 
lennium in  extravagant  imagery  drawn  freely 
from  Jewish  sources.  In  fact  he  believed  that 
Jesus  himself  had  thus  pictured  the  future. 
The  new  age  when  the  righteous  will  rise  from 
the  dead  and  reign  in  glory  will  be  attended  by  a 
marvelous   transformation   in   the    fertilty   of 

^  Barnabas  4:1-3;   7:9  ff.;  6:11  flf.;   15:1-9;  21:3. 


Later  Christian  Hopes  159 

the  earth.  Vines  will  grow  so  luxuriantly  that 
each  vine  will  yield  ten  thousand  shoots,  each 
shoot  ten  thousand  branches,  each  branch  ten 
thousand  bunches,  each  bunch  ten  thousand 
grapes,  and  each  grape  twenty-five  measures  of 
wine.  Grain  will  be  similarly  fruitful,  each 
stalk  producing  ten  thousand  ears,  and  each 
ear  ten  pounds  of  fine  flour.  Not  only  will  the 
products  of  the  earth  grow  in  great  abundance, 
but  ferocious  beasts  will  become  docile,  sub- 
mitting peacefully  to  the  dominion  of  mankind.^ 
The  unknown  author  of  II  Peter,  perhaps 
a  contemporary  of  Papias,  knew  individuals  in 
the  Christian  church  of  his  day  who  were 
skeptical  regarding  both  the  catastrophic  end 
of  the  world  and  the  expected  return  of  Christ. 
These  doubters  affirmed  the  perpetuity  of  the 
present  order  and  remarked  upon  the  fact  that 
time  had  denied  the  first  Christians'  confident 
declarations  of  faith  in  Christ's  early  return. 
The  writer  of  II  Peter  upbraids  these  skeptics 
for  their  lack  of  faith  and  apologizes  for  the 
delay  by  affirming  that  one  day  is  with  the 
Lord  as  a  thousand  years  and  a  thousand  years 
as  one  day.  A  more  practical  explanation  is 
that  this  delay  is  designed  to  give  a  larger 

*  Irenaeus,  Against  Heresies  V.  33:3  f. 


i6o  The  Millennial  Hope 

number  of  persons  an  opportunity  to  repent 
and  be  saved.  Notwithstanding  the  postpone- 
ment of  the  event,  the  author  is  himself  con- 
fident that  the  hope  of  the  catastrophic  end  will 
soon  be  realized.' 

At  Rome  in  the  middle  of  the  second  century 
the  hope  of  a  new  age  is  entertained  by  the 
devout  Christian  Hermas.  He  is  oppressed  by 
a  keen  sense  of  human  sinfulness,  from  which 
he  seeks  ultimate  release  through  the  inaugura- 
tion of  a  new  order.  In  a  vision  he  is  con- 
fronted by  a  terrible  beast  whose  head  is 
marked  by  four  colors.  It  is  explained  to 
Hermas  that  the  black  color  represents  the 
present  world,  the  fiery  red  signifies  impending 
destruction  by  blood  and  fire,  the  golden  color 
typifies  faithful  Christians  who  pass  through  the 
fiery  trials  of  the  last  days,  purified  like  gold 
from  the  furnace,  and  the  white  stands  for  the 
new  age  to  come.  God  himself,  who  created 
the  world,  will  effect  the  final  change.  The 
heavens,  the  mountains,  the  hills,  and  the  seas 
will  be  removed  as  God  in  fulfilment  of  his 
promise  makes  all  things  level  for  his  elect. 
In  the  meantime  by  performing  righteous  deeds 
and  enduring  patiently  the  great  tribulation 

» II  Pet.  3:1-13. 


Later  Christian  Hopes  i6i 

men  are  to  prove  themselves  worthy  of  the 
divine  favor,  but  sinful  Christians  and  all 
Gentiles  will  be  rejected.  In  this  world  to  come 
the  righteous  shall  flourish  as  the  luxuriant 
foliage  of  summer,  but  the  wicked  shall  wither 
and  be  burned  as  fuel.  The  end  is  imminent. 
Jesus'  earthly  career  had  inaugurated  the  period 
to  which  the  last  days  belong,  and  the  con- 
summation will  arrive  as  soon  as  Christianity 
has  done  its  work.  Hermas  sees  the  tower 
representing  the  church  so  near  to  completion 
that  the  workmen  have  to  be  dismissed  for 
a  short  time  awaiting  the  return  of  the 
owner,  Christ.  Although  his  coming  is  de- 
layed, Hermas  is  assured  that  the  owner  will 
presently  arrive  to  inspect  the  structure  and 
that  the  tower  shall  be  brought  to  completion 
quickly.^ 

Another  Roman  Christian,  Justin,  writing 
soon  after  the  middle  of  the  second  century, 
stoutly  aflirms  his  belief  in  the  near  approach 
of  the  end  of  the  world.  As  he  viewed  the 
present  world,  it  seemed  to  be  so  thoroughly 
infested  by  demons  that  an  ultimate  destruc- 
tion  by  fire    was    inevitable.     Prompted    by 

^Hermas,   Vis.  I.  3:4;    II.  2:7;    III.  8:9;    9:5;    IV.   1-3; 
Sim.  IV.  1-8;  IX.  5;   12:3. 


1 62  The  Millennial  Hope 

the  demons  the  Jewish  and  gentile  enemies  of 
Christians  have  instituted  frightful  persecutions 
which  Justin  expects  to  continue  until  Christ 
comes  again  to  visit  eternal  punishment  upon 
all  the  powers  of  evil.  This  climactic  event  is 
delayed  in  order  to  give  the  human  race  time  to 
repent.  In  fact  Justin  thinks  that  the  delay 
may  continue  long  enough  to  give  some  persons 
yet  unborn  an  opportunity  for  repentance.  But 
when  the  number  of  the  faithful,  foreknown  by 
God,  is  complete,  the  end  will  come.  In  the 
meantime  hostility  toward  Christians  will 
increase  until  the  man  of  apostasy,  the  Anti- 
christ, appears.  Then  suddenly  Christ  will 
return  upon  the  clouds  accompanied  by  the 
angelic  hosts,  to  deal  out  deadly  punishments  to 
all  foes  of  the  Christians.  Christ  himself  will 
execute  judgment,  condemning  to  eternal  fire 
Satan  and  all  his  servants,  both  demonic  and 
human.  The  dead  will  be  raised  in  order  that 
the  righteous  may  be  endowed  with  blessed 
immortality  while  wicked  men  and  the  devils 
are  condemned  to  a  life  of  conscious  and  eternal 
torment  in  the  fires  of  hell.  The  present  evil 
world  will  be  consumed  by  a  devastating  con- 
flagration, even  as  the  effete  world  of  former 
times  perished  in  the  flood. 


Later  Christian  Hopes  163 

Justin  expects  the  restoration  of  Jerusalem 
and  the  transformation  of  Palestine  in  accord- 
ance with  the  post-exilic  prophetic  model.  He 
freely  adduces  Old  Testament  passages  in 
support  of  his  contention  that  the  transformed 
land  of  Canaan  is  to  be  the  future  possession 
of  the  saints.  From  all  parts  of  the  world  those 
who  have  believed  in  Christ  shall  escape  the 
impending  judgment  and  inherit  the  resting- 
place  prepared  for  them  in  Jerusalem.  Here 
Christ  himself  will  dwell  with  the  faithful, 
distributing  to  them  goodly  possessions  in  the 
land  even  as  in  earlier  times  Joshua  had  allotted 
Canaan  to  the  Israelites.  Jerusalem,  rebuilt  in 
magnificent  fashion,  will  become  the  capital  of 
the  new  heavenly  kingdom  on  earth  to  endure 
one  thousand  years.  Although  Justin  himself 
entertains  no  doubts,  he  candidly  admits  that 
many  sincere  Christians  of  his  day  have 
rejected  this  realistic  picture  of  the  restoration 
of  Jerusalem  and  the  return  of  Christ  for  a 
millennial  reign  upon  earth.' 

Millennial  hopes  found  still  another  ardent 
champion  in  Irenaeus  of  Lyons,  who  flourished 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  second  century  a.d.     In 

^  Justin,  Apol.  I.  28,  45,  SI  f.,  60;  II.  7  f.;  Dial.  30  f.,  39,  58, 
80  f.,  no,  113,  121,  138  f. 


164  The  Millennial  Hope 

opposition  to  doubters,  particularly  among 
gnostic  Christians,  he  expounds  his  views  in 
doctrinaire  fashion,  employing  both  Old  and 
New  Testament  proof-texts.  The  present  world 
is  to  endure  six  thousand  years,  corresponding 
to  the  six  days  of  creation.  As  the  end  draws 
near,  suffering  will  be  greatly  increased  until  at 
last  the  incarnation  of  all  wickedness  will  be 
made  manifest  in  the  person  of  the  Antichrist. 
After  he  has  completed  his  devastating  work  he 
will  take  his  seat  in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem, 
reigning  for  three  and  a  half  years.  Irenaeus 
indulges  in  much  fanciful  speculation  about 
the  identity  of  the  beast  designated  by  the 
number  666  in  the  Book  of  Revelation,  but 
finally  remarks  that  it  is  impossible  to  pro- 
nounce positively  upon  the  identity  of  the 
Antichrist.  When  the  allotted  time  of  Satan's 
rule  has  expired,  Christ  will  come  in  heavenly 
glory,  triumphing  over  all  his  foes.  This 
event  is  to  be  followed  by  the  resurrection 
of  the  saints,  a  veritable  rehabilitation  of  the 
fleshly  body.  The  faithful  dwell  henceforth  in 
a  new  kingdom  established  by  Christ  upon 
earth,  in  fulfilment  of  the  promise  that  the 
meek  shall  inherit  the  earth.  This  period  of 
millennial  bliss  corresponds  to  the  seventh  day 


Later  Christian  Hopes  165 

of  rest  following  the  six  days  of  creation 
described  in  Genesis.  During  this  time  the 
earth  is  marvelously  fruitful.  Jerusalem  is 
magnificently  rebuilt,  and  the  righteous  joy- 
fully become  accustomed  to  the  new  life  of 
incorruption.  After  this  preliminary  regime  of 
bliss  has  passed,  a  final  judgment  of  all  the 
world  is  instituted,  and  the  new  heaven  and  the 
new  earth  are  revealed.  In  this  final  state  of 
blessedness  the  redeemed  shall  live  in  the 
presence  of  God,  world  without  end.^ 

In  North  Africa  at  the  very  beginning  of 
the  third  century  millennial  hopes  find  another 
advocate  in  Tertullian.^  With  him,  as  with 
Irenaeus,  discussion  of  the  subject  is  called  forth 
by  the  opposition  of  both  Jewish  and  Christian 
doubters.  In  his  treatise  on  the  resurrection  of 
the  flesh  Tertullian  cites  the  imagery  of  Paul 
and  of  the  Revelation  as  proof  of  a  millennial 
reign  of  Christ  upon  earth  when  believers  will 
be  raised  bodily  to  participate  in  the  privileges 
of  the  new  kingdom.  There  must  occur  first  a 
falling  away,  that  is,  a  decay  of  the  present 
Roman  Empire,  before  the  Antichrist  appears 

^  Irenaeus,  Against  Heresies  V.  25-36. 

2  Representative  passages  are  Apol.  23;    Shows  30;    Against 
Marcion  III.  25;  On  Resur.  24  f. 


1 66  The  Millennial  Hope 

to  wage  war  upon  the  church  of  God.  After 
the  work  of  the  Antichrist  is  finished  Christ  will 
come  suddenly  upon  the  clouds  in  heavenly 
glory,  causing  the  whole  earth  to  quake  and 
filling  with  lamentations  all  who  are  not  Chris- 
tians. The  advent  of  Christ  will  provide  a 
magnificent  spectacle,  compensating  believers 
for  their  sacrifice  in  refraining  from  attendance 
upon  the  public  entertainments  of  the  heathen. 
The  triumphant  splendor  of  the  Lord,  the 
exultation  of  the  angehc  host,  the  glory  of  the 
rising  saints,  the  blessedness  of  the  new  king- 
dom, and  the  splendors  of  the  new  Jerusalem 
inflame  the  imagination  of  Tertullian  almost 
beyond  even  his  exceptional  powers  of  vivid 
description.  Although  God  alone  knows  the 
exact  moment  when  Christ  will  return,  yet  the 
event  is  imminent.  The  work  of  Jesus  and 
the  apostles  belongs  to  the  "last  times,'' 
and  the  end  of  the  present  order  may  be 
expected  to  occur  at  an  early  date. 

The  advent  of  Christ  will  be  followed  by  the 
first  resurrection,  when  the  righteous  will  be 
revived  to  participate  in  the  glories  of  the  new 
Jerusalem  let  down  from  heaven  to  earth. 
Tertullian  beheves  that  this  new  city  is  occa- 
sionally seen  even  now  suspended  in  the  clouds. 


Later  Christian  Hopes  167 

The  new  kingdom  will  endure  one  thousand 
years  in  order  to  provide  the  righteous  adequate 
compensation  for  their  earthly  suffering. 
Throughout  this  period  the  saints  continue 
to  be  raised  earlier  or  later  according  to  the 
amount  of  blessing  they  severally  deserve. 
At  the  expiration  of  the  millennium  the  final 
judgment  will  be  enacted,  when  Christians  will 
be  changed  into  the  likeness  of  angels  and 
transported  to  their  final  reward  in  heaven.  ^/ 
The  present  earth  will  be  completely  destroyed 
by  fire,  and  all  its  inhabitants  cast  into  the 
furnace  of  everlasting  torment.  Tertullian 
gloats  over  the  scene  of  a  world  in  flames,  where 
Christianity's  persecutors  endure  fires  more 
fierce  than  any  they  have  kindled  around 
believers  whom  they  have  burned  at  the 
stake. 

Throughout  the  third  century  and  early  in 
the  fourth,  millennial  hopes  continued  to  have 
representatives  in  different  parts  of  the  Chris- 
tian world.  Returning  to  Rome,  in  the  first 
half  of  the  third  century  we  find  Hippolytus,  a 
pupil  of  Irenaeus,  fixing  more  specifically  the 
date  of  the  end,  which  is  to  occur  not  only  six 
thousand  years  from  creation,  but  also  five 
hundred  years  after  the  birth  of  Jesus.     It  is  by 


1 68  The  Millennial  Hope 

no  means  certain,  however,  that  Hippolytus 
followed  Irenaeus  in  expecting  the  earth  to  be 
the  seat  of  the  millennial  kingdom. 

A  generation  or  two  later  realistic  millennial 
views  find  a  vigorous  champion  in  Commodian 
of  North  Africa/  He  summons  unbelievers  to 
repentance  in  preparation  for  the  speedy  end  of 
the  world,  which  is  to  take  place  when  the 
impending  seventh  persecution  breaks  upon  the 
church.  In  the  tribulation  of  the  last  days 
Nero  will  reappear  as  the  first  Antichrist, 
taking  possession  of  Rome  and  afflicting  Chris- 
tians for  three  and  a  half  years.  Then  a  second 
Antichrist,  a  man  from  the  Persians,  will  appear 
upon  the  scene  to  conquer  Nero,  destroy  Rome, 
and  estabhsh  himself  in  Judea,  where  the  Jews 
will  render  him  worship.  Finally  Christ  ap- 
pears, destroying  Antichrist  and  his  hosts, 
subjecting  the  nations,  and  estabhshing  his 
kingdom  upon  earth.  The  Christian  dead  will 
be  raised  to  share  the  joys  of  the  new  Jerusalem. 
Here  the  saints  will  live  in  peace,  marrying  and 
begetting  children  for  one  thousand  years.  The 
earth  will  yield  abundantly,  and  all  the  revenues 
of  the  world  will  pour  into  the  Holy  City.  In 
the  meantime  all  the  wicked  are  shut  up  in 

^Against  the  Gods  oj  the  Heathen,  chaps.  43-45. 


Later  Christian  Hopes  169 

torment,  awaiting  final  condemnation  when  the 
millennial  reign  of  Christ  comes  to  an  end. 

Early  in  the  fourth  century  Lactantius,' 
another  native  of  North  Africa,  offers  a  fresh 
exposition  of  millennial  views,  based  largely 
upon  the  Sibylline  books.  Since  God  com- 
pleted the  creation  in  six  days,  the  present 
world  will  endure  six  thousand  years,  and  since 
the  first  man  was  created  on  the  sixth  day,  the 
creation  of  the  new  man,  the  Christian  people, 
marks  the  beginning  of  the  last  age  of  the  world. 
Already  the  overthrow  of  the  weary  and  wasting 
world  is  imminent.  First  there  will  come  a 
period  of  dire  distress.  Righteousness  will 
diminish  almost  to  the  vanishing-point,  while 
all  kinds  of  wickedness  will  thrive.  So  thorough 
will  be  the  decay  that  ^Hhere  will  be  no  faith 
among  men  nor  peace  nor  kindness  nor  shame 
nor  truth,  and  thus  also  there  will  be  neither 
security  nor  government  nor  any  rest  from 
evils."  Wars  will  rage  throughout  the  earth, 
but  with  particular  severity  in  Egypt  as  a 
penalty  for  her  foolish  superstitions.  This 
political  chaos  will  be  the  direct  result  of  the 
downfall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  when  the 
dominion  of  the  world  will  again  return  to 

^  Divine  Institutes  VII.  14-26. 


170  The  Millennial  Hope 

the  East.  The  Sibyl  has  decreed  that  Rome 
is  doomed  to  perish  by  the  judgment  of  God 
because  it  has  hated  his  name.  Yet  Lactantius 
dreads  this  coming  disaster  and  urges  his  readers 
to  entreat  God  to  delay  the  coming  of  that 
destructive  tyrant,  apparently  the  Antichrist, 
who  is  to  put  out  the  eye  of  the  world,  the 
city  of  Rome,  whose  downfall  will  be  speedily 
followed  by  the  collapse  of  the  present  world. 

When  six  thousand  years  of  the  world's 
existence  are  completed,  the  son  of  God  will 
descend  from  heaven  to  execute  judgment  upon 
the  wicked.  He  will  raise  the  righteous  dead 
and  remain  ten  thousand  years  among  men, 
ruling  them  in  justice.  The  faithful  who  are 
alive  at  his  coming  shall  not  die,  but  shall 
continue  alive  throughout  the  millennium, 
producing  an  infinite  number  of  holy  offspring 
beloved  by  God.  They  who  have  been  raised 
from  the  dead  shall  preside  over  the  living  as 
judges.  The  heathen  will  not  be  completely 
destroyed,  but  will  be  made  to  serve  the 
righteous,  who  have  been  gathered  from  all  the 
world  into  the  sacred  city  which  is  situated  in 
the  middle  of  the  earth.  Here  God  himself 
dwells,  ruling  over  the  faithful.  The  moon  will 
become  as  bright  as  the  sun,  and  the  brightness 


Later  Christian  Hopes  171 

of  the  latter  will  be  increased  seven  fold.  The 
earth  will  become  miraculously  fruitful,  the 
mountains  will  drip  with  honey,  wine  and  milk 
will  flow  like  water,  and  perfect  peace  shall  hold 
sway  over  all  the  earth.  The  heathen  kings 
from  distant  parts  shall  bring  gifts  to  God,  the 
supreme  king,  ^^  whose  name  shall  be  renowned 
and  venerated  by  all  the  nations  which  shall  be 
under  heaven  and  by  the  kings  which  shall  rule 
on  the  earth.''  At  the  close  of  the  millennium 
God  will  enact  the  final  judgment,  when  no 
nation  save  that  of  God  only  shall  be  left  in  the 
world.  Then  the  heavens  will  be  folded  up, 
the  earth  renewed,  men  changed  into  the  like- 
ness of  angels,  and  the  wicked  raised  to  receive 
everlasting  punishment,  burning  "forever  with 
perpetual  fire  in  the  sight  of  angels  and  the 
righteous." 

Eastern  Christendom  produced  an  early 
fourth-century  defender  of  millenarianism  in 
the  person  of  Methodius,^  bishop  of  Olympus 
in  Lycia.  The  day  of  judgment  and  the  first 
resurrection  are  to  be  followed  by  a  period  of 
one  thousand  years  in  the  company  of  Christ, 
but  Methodius  is  not  specific  as  to  the  locality. 
After  the  millennium  the  body  of  the  righteous 

^  Banquet  of  the  Ten  Virgins  IX.  5. 


172  The  Millennial  Hope 

is  to  be  changed  from  a  corruptible  and  human 
form  into  one  of  angeHc  size  and  beauty. 
Thereupon  it  will  be  transported  "into  the  very 
house  of  God  above  the  heavens." 

II 

Hostility  toward  millenarianism,  especially 
in  its  more  reahstic  forms,  emerged  at  a  rela- 
tively early  date.  Apparently  expHcit  objec- 
tions first  crystallized  in  gnostic  Christian 
circles.  Since  the  Gnostics  regarded  matter  as 
wholly  evil,  they  rejected  belief  in  the  resur- 
rection and  the  establishment  of  a  new  regime 
by  Christ  upon  earth.  Their  supreme  quest 
was  the  complete  deliverance  of  the  soul  from 
the  realm  of  matter.  To  assume  that  the  soul 
must  return  to  the  body,  even  for  participation 
in  the  privileges  of  the  millennial  kingdom,  was 
virtually  a  denial  of  the  gnostic  idea  of  salva- 
tion. On  the  contrary,  at  death  the  soul  of 
the  righteous  was  thought  to  pass  at  once 
to  its  heavenly  rewards,  hence  all  millennial 
imagery  was  rejected  outright.  Probably  it 
was  gnostic  skepticism  that  called  forth  II 
Peter's  reaffirmation  of  belief  in  the  cata- 
strophic end,  and  one  of  the  strong  incentives 
for   Irenaeus'   insistence  upon  millenarianism 


Later  Christian  Hopes  173 

was  his  desire  to  offset  the  skepticism  of  the 
Gnostics. 

Other  Christians,  who  cannot  be  charged 
with  gnostic  leanings,  also  rejected  millenarian- 
ism.  The  resurrection  was  not  generally  denied, 
nor  was  any  doubt  necessarily  cast  upon  the 
return  of  Christ  to  execute  judgment,  but  the 
idea  of  a  future  millennial  reign  upon  earth 
rapidly  lost  favor,  and  was  ultimately  declared 
to  be  heresy.  Nor  was  the  end  of  the  present 
world  awaited  with  the  same  degree  of  expect- 
ancy that  characterized  the  Christian  hopes  of 
earHer  times.  This  decline  of  millennial  expec- 
tations was  a  natural  result  of  Christianity's 
success  in  making  conquest  of  its  contemporary 
world.  While  the  new  movement  was  largely 
dominated  by  its  Jewish  inheritances  and  while 
its  prospects  of  triumph  over  heathen  foes 
seemed  dark,  the  speedy  end  of  the  world  and 
the  establishment  of  Christ's  millennial  reign 
upon  earth  were  vital  factors  in  the  Christian 
faith.  But  as  Jewish  ways  of  thinking  were 
gradually  supplanted  or  overlaid  by  Graeco- 
Roman  notions,  and  as  the  new  rehgion  slowly 
rose  to  a  position  of  supremacy  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean world,  millennial  imagery  lost  its  vital 
significance.     In  its  less  sensuous  forms  it  often 


174  The  Millennial  Hope 

survived  unquestioned,  perpetuating  itself 
merely  by  virtue  of  its  former  momentum.  But 
occasionally  it  was  either  definitely  opposed  or 
else  so  thoroughly  recast  as  to  be  hardly 
recognizable. 

Origen,  an  eastern  Christian  who  flourished 
during  the  first  half  of  the  third  century,  was 
one  of  the  earliest  and  severest  critics  of  mil- 
lenarianism.  Its  Hteralism  was  condemned  by 
him  in  a  classic  passage : 

Certain  persons  then  refusing  the  labor  of  thinking, 
and  adopting  a  superficial  view  of  the  letter  of  the  law, 
and  yielding  rather  in  some  measure  to  the  indulgence 
of  their  own  desires  and  lusts,  being  disciples  of  the 
letter  alone,  are  of  opinion  that  the  fulfilment  of  the 
promises  of  the  future  are  to  be  looked  for  in  bodily 
pleasure  and  luxury;  and  therefore  they  especially 
desire  to  have  again  after  the  resurrection  such  bodily 
structures  as  may  never  be  without  the  power  of  eating 
and  drinking  and  performing  all  the  functions  of  flesh 
and  blood,  not  following  the  opinion  of  the  apostle  Paul 
regarding  the  resurrection  of  a  spiritual  body.  And 
consequently  they  say  that  after  the  resurrection  there 
will  be  marriages  and  the  begetting  of  children,  imagin- 
ing to  themselves  that  the  earthly  city  of  Jerusalem 
is  to  be  rebuilt,  its  foundations  laid  in  precious  stones, 
and  its  walls  constructed  of  jasper,  and  its  battlements 
of  crystal;  that  it  is  to  have  a  wall  composed  of  many 
precious  stones,  as  jasper,  and  sapphire,  and  chal- 


Later  Christian  Hopes  175 

cedony,  and  emerald,  and  sardonyx,  and  onyx,  and 
chrysolite,  and  chrysoprase,  and  jacinth,  and  amethyst. 
Moreover,  they  think  that  the  natives  of  other  countries 
are  to  be  given  them  as  the  ministers  of  their  pleasures, 
whom  they  are  to  employ  either  as  tillers  of  the  field 
or  builders  of  walls,  and  by  whom  their  ruined  and 
fallen  city  is  again  to  be  raised  up;  and  they  think 
that  they  are  to  receive  the  wealth  of  the  nations  to 
live  on,  and  that  they  will  have  control  over  their 
riches;  that  even  the  camels  of  Midian  and  Kedar  will 
come  and  bring  to  them  gold  and  incense  and  precious 
stones.  And  these  views  they  think  to  establish  on  the 
authority  of  the  prophets  by  those  promises  which  are 
written  regarding  Jerusalem  and  by  those  passages  also 
where  it  is  said  that  they  who  serve  the  Lord  shall  eat 
and  drink,  but  that  sinners  shall  hunger  and  thirst, 
that  the  righteous  shall  be  joyful,  but  that  sorrow  shall 
possess  the  wicked.  And  from  the  New  Testament 
also  they  quote  the  saying  of  the  Savior  in  which  he 
makes  a  promise  to  his  disciples  concerning  the  joy  of 
wine,  saying,  "Henceforth  I  shall  not  drink  of  this  cup 
until  I  drink  it  with  you  new  in  my  Father's  kingdom." 
They  add  moreover  that  declaration  in  which  the 
Savior  calls  those  blessed  who  now  hunger  and  thirst, 
promising  them  that  they  shall  be  satisfied;  and  many 
other  scriptural  illustrations  are  adduced  by  them,  the 
meaning  of  which  they  do  not  perceive  is  to  be  taken 
figuratively.  Then,  again,  agreeably  to  the  form  of 
things  in  this  life,  and  according  to  the  gradations  of 
the  dignities  or  ranks  in  this  world,  or  the  greatness 
of  their  powers,  they  think  they  are  to  be  kings  and 
princes,  like  those  earthly  monarchs  who  now  exist, 


176  The  Millennial  Hope 

chiefly,  as  it  appears,  on  account  of  that  expression  in 
the  gospel,  ''Have  thou  power  over  five  cities."  And 
to  speak  shortly,  according  to  the  manner  of  things  in 
this  life  in  all  similar  matters  do  they  desire  the  ful- 
filment of  all  things  looked  for  in  the  promises,  viz., 
that  what  now  is  should  exist  again.  Such  are  the 
views  of  those  who,  while  believing  in  Christ,  under- 
stand the  divine  Scriptures  in  a  sort  of  Jewish  sense, 
drawing  from  them  nothing  worthy  of  the  divine 
promises.^ 

Origen's  solution  of  the  problem  v^as  to  treat 
the  millennial  imagery  of  the  Bible  figuratively 
rather  than  literally,  a  method  far  less  true  to 
Scripture  than  to  the  demands  of  Origen's  own 
situation.  In  reality  he  believed  the  world  to 
be  eternal.  He  could  not  accept  the  notion  of 
a  literal  physical  resurrection,  nor  could  he 
entertain  the  idea  of  a  final  judgment  day  with 
its  attendant  phenomena  as  pictured  in  popular 
faith.  Yet  he  did  not  reject  the  biblical 
language  upon  which  this  faith  commonly 
rested.  Instead  of  criticizing  the  Scriptures,  he 
rejected  the  Hteralist's  interpretation  of  Scrip- 
ture, and  thereby  escaped  what  he  regarded  as 
the  utter  absurdities  of  millenarianism.  Origen 
could  say  that  the  present  world  will  come  to  an 
end,  but  in  what  manner?    Behind  all  the 

^  De  Prin.  II.  11:2. 


Later  Christian  Hopes  lyy 

catastrophic  imagery  of  Scripture  he  found  a 
"spiritual"  meaning  which  seemed  to  him  to  be 
fully  substantiated  by  other  Scripture  and 
clearly  to  indicate  that  the  change  from  the  old 
order  to  the  new  was  to  be  a  gradual  process 
effected  through  the  religious  development  of 
individuals  and  humanity.  To  use  his  own 
language,  since 

different  movements  of  rational  beings  and  their  vary- 
ing opinions  have  brought  about  the  diversity  that 
is  in  the  world  ....  there  is  no  doubt  that  its  end 
must  be  sought  amid  much  diversity  and  variety,  which 
variety,  being  found  to  exist  in  the  termination  of  the 
world,  v/ill  again  furnish  ground  and  occasion  for 
the  diversity  of  the  other  world  which  is  to  succeed  the 

present Accordingly  we  are  to  suppose  that  at 

the  consummation  and  restoration  of  all  things  those 
who  make  a  gradual  advance  and  who  ascend  [in  the 
scale  of  improvement]  will  arrive  in  due  measure  and 
order  at  that  land  and  at  that  training  which  is  con- 
tained in  it  where  they  may  be  prepared  for  those 
better  institutions  to  which  no  addition  can  be  made. 
For  after  his  agents  and  his  servants  the  Lord  Christ 
who  is  king  of  all  will  himself  assume  the  kingdom,  that 
is,  after  instruction  in  the  holy  virtues  he  will  himself 
instruct  those  who  are  capable  of  receiving  him  in 
respect  of  his  being  wisdom,  reigning  in  them  until 
he  has  subjected  them  to  the  Father  who  has  sub- 
dued all  things  to  himself Then  accordingly 

as  a  necessary  consequence  bodily  nature  will  obtain 


178  The  Millennial  Hope 

that  highest  condition  to  which  nothing  more  can  be 
added/ 

By  this  allegorical  method  of  interpretation 
Origen  not  only  spiritualized  the  whole  range  of 
earlier  millennial  hopes,  but  set  an  example 
which  has  been  widely  followed  by  critics  of 
millenarianism  even  do\vn  to  the  present  day. 

Dionysius  of  Alexandria,^  a  pupil  of  Origen, 
employed  a  somewhat  different  method  of 
attack.  His  polemic  was  called  forth  by  the 
work  of  a  certain  Egyptian  bishop  named 
Nepos,  who  had  composed  a  treatise  entitled 
Refutation  of  Allegorists.  In  opposition  to  the 
method  employed  by  Origen,  Nepos  advocated 
a  literal  interpretation,  and  he  had  secured  a 
large  following  among  the  Egyptian  churches. 
But,  as  the  result  of  a  three-day  conference  held 
in  Arsinoe,  Dionysius  persuaded  the  presbyters 
and  teachers  of  the  village  churches  to  abandon 
their  crude  fancies.  Subsequently,  in  writing 
of  the  affair,  Dionysius  raises  doubts  about  the 
authority  of  the  Book  of  Revelation.  He 
knows  some  Christians  who  reject  it  entirely, 
pronouncing  it  without  sense  or  argument,  and 
maintaining  that  it  is  a  fraudulent  work  com- 
posed by  the  heretic   Cerinthus.     Dionysius' 

*  De  Prin.  II.  i :  3 ;  III.  6:9.  ^  Eusebius,  HisL  VII.  24  f . 


Later  Christian  Hopes  179 

own  attitude  is  less  radical.  He  is  certain  that 
the  book  is  not  to  be  taken  literally,  but  assumes 
that  it  may  have  a  hidden  meaning  too  deep 
for  him  to  grasp.  He  generously  remarks,  '^I 
do  not  reject  what  I  cannot  comprehend,  but 
rather  wonder  because  I  do  not  understand  it." 
Yet  for  all  practical  purposes  he  may  as  well 
have  rejected  it,  since  he  refused  to  expound  the 
views  it  contained.  Although  not  dismissing 
the  book  as  a  forgery,  he  did  maintain  that  the 
author  was  not  John  the  Apostle  but  some  other 
Christian  of  that  name. 

During  the  fourth  century  Christianity  made 
such  rapid  progress  that  it  became  the  legal 
rehgion  of  the  Roman  Empire,  thus  making  it 
possible  for  Augustine  in  the  first  quarter  of 
the  fifth  century  to  write  his  famous  treatise 
describing  the  church  as  the  city  of  God  on 
earth.  The  millennium  was  now  no  longer  a 
desideratum;  it  was  already  a  realization.^ 
Working  from  this  point  of  view,  Augustine  lays 
the  ghost  of  millenarianism  so  effectively  that 
for  centuries  thereafter  the  subject  is  practically 
ignored. 

Augustine  employs  the  allegorical  method 
of  interpretation,  but  applies  it  in  a  new  way 

^  City  of  God  XX. 


i8o  The  Millennial  Hope 

appropriate  to  the  new  conditions  of  his  own 
time.  He  affirms  his  belief  in  a  final  judgment, 
when  the  dead  will  be  raised  in  incorruptible 
form  and  the  present  world  completely  trans- 
formed, but  this  event  is  not  pictured  as  immi- 
nent. On  the  other  hand,  the  millennial 
imagery  of  the  Book  of  Revelation  is  thoroughly 
spiritualized.  There  is  to  be  no  specific  second 
advent  of  Christ  before  the  day  of  final  judg- 
ment, for  his  coming  "continually  occurs  in  his 
church,  that  is,  in  his  members,  in  which  he 
comes  little  by  little  and  piece  by  piece  since 
the  whole  church  is  his  body."  Similarly  the 
first  resurrection  mentioned  in  Rev.  20: 5  f.,  as 
occurring  at  the  beginning  of  the  millennium,  is 
understood  figuratively.  This  resurrection  is  a 
present  realization  for  believers,  and  is  identical 
with  the  change  in  their  status  before  God  as 
they  die  to  sin  and  rise  to  new  life  in  the  church. 
As  for  the  one-thousand-year  reign  of  Christ 
upon  earth,  Augustine  asserts  that  it  began 
with  the  career  of  the  earthly  Jesus,  who  bound 
the  strong  man,  Satan  (Mark  3:27).  Ever 
since  that  time  Satan  has  been  confined  to  the 
abyss,  in  order  that  he  may  not  seduce  the 
nations  from  which  the  church  is  gathered,  and 
over  whom  he  held  sway  before  Jesus  appeared. 


Later  Christian  Hopes  i8i 

But  the  '^ abyss"  for  Augustine  is  not  a  chaotic 
pit  in  the  regions  beneath  the  earth,  but  "the 
countless  multitude  of  the  wicked,  whose  hearts 
are  unfathomably  deep  in  mahgnity  against  the 
church  of  God."  Thus  Satan's  kingdom  is  no 
longer  the  Roman  government,  which  is  now 
formally  Christian,  but  the  group  of  scoffing 
heathen  individuals  who  continue  their  hostihty 
toward  the  church.  While  the  devil  is  thus 
bound  the  saints  reign  with  Christ  a  thousand 
years,  even  as  the  author  of  Revelation  affirms. 
It  is  the  present  church  that  is  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  and  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  wherein  the 
saints  reign  both  while  Kving  and  after  their 
decease.  This  militant  spiritual  regime  is  to 
grow  more  prosperous  with  the  passing  of  the 
years  "until  we  come  to  that  most  peaceful 
kingdom  in  which  we  shall  reign  without  an 
enemy,  and  it  is  of  this  first  resurrection  in  the 
present  life  that  the  Revelation  speaks." 

Although  the  present  world  is  not  to  grow 
worse,  but  constantly  better,  as  the  end 
approaches,  yet  Augustine  accepts  the  state- 
ment in  Revelation  that  the  devil  is  to  be  loosed 
from  the  abyss  for  a  short  time  before  the  end 
of  the  thousand  years.  But  this  loosing  is 
interpreted  to  mean  that  the  enemies  of  the 


i82  The  Millennial  Hope 

church  will  be  especially  active  in  their  opposi- 
tion for  three  and  one-half  years  before  the 
inauguration  of  the  final  judgment.  However, 
these  special  activities  of  the  devil  are  doomed 
to  failure.  During  this  short  period  he  may 
prevent  any  more  persons  from  adopting 
Christianity  and  he  may  cause  a  few  to  fall 
away,  but  such  will  be  no  loss  to  the  church,  for 
*^  these  do  not  belong  to  the  predestined  number 
of  the  sons  of  God."  The  true  church  will 
stand  firm  and  pass  gloriously  through  this 
period  of  attack.  Augustine  disposes  of  the 
beast  mentioned  in  Revelation  by  identifying 
it  with  "the  community  of  unbelievers  set  in 
opposition  to  the  faithful  people  and  the  city 
of  God.''  And  his  image  is  that  false  show  of 
piety  which  certain  people  make  who  pretend 
to  be  Christians,  but  are  not  so  at  heart.  Thus 
to  the  beast  belong,  not  only  the  avowed 
enemies  of  the  church,  but  also  those  members 
of  the  community  who  are  as  tares  among  the 
wheat. 

On  the  final  day  of  judgment  the  wicked  will 
be  consigned  to  eternal  fire,  the  nature  and 
location  of  which  are  unknown  "unless  perhaps 
the  divine  spirit  reveal  it  to  someone."  Then 
the  world  will  be  transmuted,  but  not  com- 


Later  Christian  Hopes  183 

pletely  destroyed,  by  a  universal  conflagration, 
in  which  'Hhe  quahties  of  the  corruptible 
elements  which  suited  our  corruptible  bodies 
shall  utterly  perish  and  our  substance  shall 
receive  such  qualities  as  shall  by  a  wonderful 
transmutation  harmonize  with  our  immortal 
bodies  so  that  as  the  world  itself  is  renewed  to 
some  better  thing,  it  is  fitly  accommodated  to 
men  themselves  renewed  in  their  flesh  to  some 
better  thing."  Thus  is  estabhshed  the  new 
Jerusalem,  which  may  be  said  to  come  down  out 
of  heaven  "because  the  grace  with  which  God 
formed  it  is  of  heaven."  Such  was  the  mar- 
velous transformation  effected  by  Augustine 
as  he  recast  the  vivid  millennial  imagery  of  the 
Book  of  Revelation  to  suit  conditions  in  the 
early  fifth  century. 

Ill 

As  the  year  1000  a.d.  drew  near,  hopes  for  a 
speedy  end  of  the  world  revived.  Following 
the  program  of  Augustine  it  was  now  time  to 
expect  that  consummation  of  perfection  toward 
which  the  church  was  supposed  to  be  gradually 
approaching.  In  Western  Christendom  this 
impending  event  was  proclaimed  by  various 
preachers,  but  the  views  of  these  enthusiasts 


184  The  Millennial  Hope 

were  discountenanced  by  the  more  responsible 
leaders  of  the  church.  As  the  position  of 
organized  Christianity  became  constantly 
stronger,  the  desire  for  the  inauguration  of  a 
new  order  lost  its  vitality.  Traditional  mil- 
lennial formulas  and  cognate  notions  were 
perpetuated,  but  in  general  throughout  the 
Middle  Ages  Christians  were  content  with  the 
triumph  of  the  church  in  the  present  world  and 
the  hope  of  a  blessed  immortality  for  the 
individual  soul  after  death. 

After  Augustine  the  most  important  devel- 
opments in  the  millennial  type  of  thinking 
related  to  the  more  complete  spiritualization 
of  the  church  as  the  present  kingdom  of  God  on 
earth.  The  Angus tinian  scheme  presupposed 
that  the  church  would  gradually  arrive  at 
perfection,  but  in  later  times  certain  observers 
became  skeptical  regarding  the  progress  of  the 
contemporary  ecclesiastical  organization.  It 
was  believed  that  the  end  of  the  world  would 
not  come  until  the  church  experienced  a 
rebirth  through  the  return  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
and  the  restoration  of  primitive  apostolic 
conditions,  from  which  Christianity  was 
thought  to  have  departed  in  the  course  of  its 
history. 


Later  Christian  Hopes  185 

The  first  noted  advocate  of  this  new  type  of 
hope  is  Joachim  of  Floris,  an  ItaHan  monk  of 
the  last  half  of  the  twelfth  century.  Three 
formative  factors  are  observable  in  the  making 
of  his  system  of  interpretation.  In  the  first 
place  he  was  an  ardent  admirer  of  the  monastic 
life  in  its  stricter  forms;  consequently  his  future 
church  was  to  be  an  idealized  monastic  order. 
He  was  also  inclined  toward  ecstasy  and  was 
fond  of  meditating  upon  the  supposed  hidden 
schemes  of  God  in  history.  Thirdly,  he  appHed 
his  mystical  temperament  to  the  interpretation 
of  the  Bible,  and  particularly  to  its  prophetic 
elements,  as  a  means  of  determining  the  future 
course  of  events.  The  outcome  of  Joachim's 
reflections  was  a  new  division  of  human  history 
into  three  epochs.  First,  there  was  the  age 
of  law,  or  the  age  of  the  Father,  when  the 
supreme  demand  upon  men  was  obedience. 
The  appearance  of  John  the  Baptist  marked  the 
transition  to  the  second  age,  which  is  that  of 
the  gospel,  or  of  the  Son.  This  is  the  age  to 
which  the  present  earthly  church  belongs,  when 
men  are  striving  toward  the  attainment  of 
mystical  knowledge.  The  third  age,  which  is 
that  of  the  Spirit  and  of  the  truly  spiritual 
church,  has  not  yet  dawned.     The  date  for  the 


1 86  The  Millennial  Hope 

end  of  the  present  order  and  the  inauguration 
of  the  age  of  the  Spirit  was  fixed  at  the  year 
1260,  the  years  during  which  the  true  church 
had  remained  hidden  being  equal  to  the  days 
that  the  woman  mentioned  in  Rev.  12:1-6 
remained  in  the  wilderness.  When  the  new  era 
arrived  the  present  church  would  not  be 
abolished,  but  marvelously  purified  and  restored 
to  its  primitive  simplicity.  The  elect  would 
be  assembled  from  the  west  and  from  the  east, 
both  Jews  and  Gentiles  being  converted. 
After  a  final  conflict  with  the  powers  of  evil,  to 
be  followed  by  the  final  judgment,  a  new  order 
would  be  inaugurated.  This  new  society  was 
to  be  organized  after  the  model  of  a  great 
monastery  in  which  monks  as  the  truly  spiritual 
men  would  displace  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy, 
and  humanity  would  enter  upon  its  final  Sab- 
bath day  of  peace  and  purity. 

Although  Joachim's  views  were  espoused 
and  perpetuated  by  the  more  rigorous  Fran- 
ciscans, they  left  no  very  permanent  impression 
upon  Catholicism.  His  fundamental  incentives 
— dissatisfaction  with  the  established  ecclesi- 
astical order,  the  pursuit  of  mysticism,  and  the 
study  of  apocalyptic  prophecy — found  more 
fruitful  soil  in  Protestant  circles.     The  stirring 


Later  Christian  Hopes  187 

events  connected  with  the  Reformation  and  the 
sufferings  endured  by  Protestants  in  the  early 
days  of  their  history  all  contributed  to  produce 
a  conviction  in  many  quarters  that  the  last 
days  had  come.  The  pope  now  seemed  to  be 
the  very  Antichrist  incarnate,  the  true  church 
must  be  as  yet  invisible,  and  the  Book  of 
Revelation  could  easily  be  treated  as  a  com- 
pendium of  church  history  portraying  in  the 
most  minute  detail  the  career  of  the  kingdom  of 
God.  In  the  agitation  of  the  times,  when  the 
reformed  faith  was  reaping  its  first  harvest  of 
martyrs,  pious  fancy  easily  detected  thousands 
of  marvelous  occurrences  in  the  heavens  or 
upon  the  earth.  Nor  were  wonderful  visions, 
dreams,  and  apparitions  lacking,  all  of  which 
seemed  to  portend  the  near  end  of  the  world. 
This  period  of  political,  social,  and  religious 
upheaval  supplied  a  host  of  new  stimuli  for  the 
revival  of  millennial  hopes. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  fourteenth  century 
Militz  of  Kromeriz,  a  forerunner  of  John  Huss, 
protested  against  the  corruption  of  the  times 
and  sought  in  Scripture  a  solution  of  the  world's 
ills.  As  a  result  of  his  study  Militz  became 
convinced  that  all  references  to  Antichrist 
pointed  toward  present  conditions  and  that  the 


1 88  The  Millennial  Hope 

end  of  the  world  was  to  occur  some  time 
between  the  years  1365  and  1367.  Huss  him- 
self did  not  lay  stress  upon  the  imminent  end, 
but  he  often  spoke  of  Antichrist  as  a  present 
evil  power  lying  in  wait  to  devour  the  faithful. 
During  the  period  of  the  Hussite  wars  (141 5- 
36),  which  followed  the  treacherous  arrest  and 
violent  death  of  Huss,  the  Bohemian  people  had 
ample  incentives  for  suspecting  that  the  old 
order  of  existence  was  on  the  verge  of  collapse. 
At  this  time  among  the  Bohemians  millen- 
nial hopes  were  revived  with  peculiar  strength 
by  the  so-called  Taborites.  Their  zeal  and 
courage  were  stimulated  by  leaders  who  painted 
glowing  colors  of  the  present  evil  days  of  final 
tribulation,  when  the  wrath  of  God  was  being 
filled  up  in  preparation  for  judgment.  Signs 
of  the  approaching  end  were  seen  on  every  hand. 
Rumors  of  war  were  everywhere;  nation  was 
rising  up  against  nation  and  kingdom  against 
kingdom;  false  prophets  were  abroad  in  the 
land;  even  within  their  own  circles  traitors  to 
their  own  cause  had  been  discovered;  and  other 
terrible  phenomena  to  precede  the  coming  of  the 
Son  of  Man  were  a  part  of  their  daily  experi- 
ence. The  day  of  judgment  when  the  sinful 
earth  would  be  smitten  with  the  fire  of  divine 


Later  Christian  Hopes  189 

wrath  was  believed  to  be  so  near  that  five  cities 
of  Bohemia  were  selected  as  centers  of  refuge 
to  be  spared  in  the  day  of  world-conflagration 
because  they  had  not  yielded  to  the  Antichrist. 
Thither  the  villagers  and  peasants  assembled 
from  all  parts  of  the  country,  selling  their  prop- 
erty and  placing  the  proceeds  in  the  hands  of 
their  religious  leaders  as  had  been  done  by  the 
first  Christians.  Thus  the  movement  developed 
into  a  communistic  society. 

The  restoration  of  peace  was  quickly  fol- 
lowed by  a  decline  in  the  Taborites'  fanatical 
zeal,  but  in  a  milder  form  similar  millennial 
notions  survived  in  the  sect  known  as  the 
Bohemian  Brethren.  Their  preachers  on  occa- 
sion identified  the  pope  at  Rome  with  the  Anti- 
christ and  proclaimed  the  nearness  of  the 
second  advent.  These  ideas  were  revived  again 
in  the  period  of  stress  known  as  the  Thirty 
Years'  War,  when  Bohemia  suffered  so  tragi- 
cally. The  experiences  of  these  years,  and  his 
own  natural  bent  toward  mysticism,  led  the 
famous  Comenius  to  expect  a  miraculous 
transformation  of  the  church  and  the  speedy 
return  of  Christ. 

The  reformers  in  Switzerland  and  Germany 
also  saw  in  the  Roman  church  a  hostile  power  of 


190  The  Millennial  Hope 

evil  as  real  and  terrible  to  them  as  the  Roman 
state  had  been  to  Christians  at  the  time  the 
Book  of  Revelation  was  written.  A  crude  form 
of  millenarianism  emerged  early  in  the  sixteenth 
century  among  the  more  fanatically  inclined 
adherents  of  the  Anabaptist  movement.  The 
revolt  against  feudal  oppression,  which  came 
to  a  head  in  the  Peasants'  War  of  1525,  was 
accompanied  in  certain  religious  circles  by  a 
desire  to  set  aside  all  ecclesiastical  authorities 
and  to  establish  an  ideal  Christian  common- 
wealth of  a  communistic  type.  Although  the 
peasants'  revolt  was  crushed,  the  new  religious 
interest  continued  and  soon  a  community  was 
formed  at  Strassburg,  under  the  leadership 
of  Melchior  Hoffmann,  who  declared  himself 
to  be  one  of  the  two  witnesses  mentioned  in 
Rev.  11:3  and  announced  that  Strassburg  was 
to  be  the  site  of  the  New  Jerusalem.  Owing  to 
opposition  the  movement  was  transferred  to 
Miinster,  where  the  fanatics  took  full  possession 
of  the  city,  established  their  own  form  of 
government  under  the  alleged  direction  of  the 
Spirit,  and  founded  the  new  Zion  in  anticipation 
of  the  speedy  return  of  Christ.  The  leaders 
claimed  the  authority  of  visions  from  heaven, 
and  Miinster  became  the  scene  of  unrestrained 


Later  Christian  Hopes  191 

fanaticism  until  the  movement  was  forcibly 
suppressed  in  1535. 

The  millenarianism  of  both  the  Lutheran  and 
the  Reformed  churches  was  usually  of  a  more 
restrained  type.  The  downfall  of  the  Anti- 
christ papacy  and  the  near  approach  of  the  end 
of  the  world  were  often  anticipated,  although 
the  idea  of  a  literal  millennial  reign  of  Christ 
upon  earth  was  not  generally  approved.  But 
through  the  aid  of  mysticism  and  pietism 
millennial  teachings  found  several  advocates 
within  the  Protestant  churches,  particularly  in 
the  seventeenth  century.  These  were  times 
of  much  unrest  occasioned  by  religious  wars  in 
Germany,  by  the  persecution  of  the  Huguenots 
in  France,  and  by  the  political  revolution  of 
Cromwell  in  England.  Such  stirring  events 
brought  the  problem  of  the  world's  ills  close 
to  the  hearts  of  the  populace  and  called  forth 
new  expressions  of  millennial  hope. 

During  the  seventeenth  century  in  Germany 
and  France  millennial  views  were  represented 
by  individuals  rather  than  by  definite  move- 
ments. Writing  in  1627,  the  German  scholar 
Alsted  fixed  the  date  for  the  inauguration  of  the 
millennium  at  1694.  In  France  a  generation 
later  the  Protestant  theologian  Jurieu,  incited 


192  The  Millennial  Hope 

by  the  persecution  of  the  Huguenots,  fixed  upon 
the  year  1689  for  the  downfall  of  the  Antichrist 
Roman  church. 

In  England  by  the  year  1653  millennial 
teaching  had  crystallized  into  a  definite  political 
propaganda  known  as  the  Fifth  Monarchy 
Movement,  bitterly  antagonistic  to  Cromwell. 
Its  advocates  professed  allegiance  to  King 
Jesus  only,  affirming  that  he  was  about  to 
appear  and  establish  a  fifth  world-monarchy. 
The  four  previous  monarchies  were  reckoned 
as  the  Assyrian,  the  Persian,  the  Grecian,  and 
the  Roman,  the  last-named  still  existing  in  the 
form  of  the  Roman  church.  The  champions 
of  these  views  believed  that  duty  called  them  to 
fight  for  King  Jesus,  thereby  demonstrating 
their  fitness  to  receive  him  at  his  coming. 
Heretofore  they  had  been  praying  and  preach- 
ing, but  now  they  beheved  that  the  time  had 
come  to  act  for  God.  This  conviction  expressed 
itself  in  two  unsuccessful  attempts  at  insurrec- 
tion, one  in  1657  and  the  other  in  1661. 

The  motive  of  the  Fifth  Monarchy  Move- 
ment was  not  only  hatred  for  Rome,  but  also 
a  strong  leaning  toward  communistic  ideals  and 
mystical  experiences.  One  quotation  from  their 
ofi&cial  declaration  reads: 


Later  Christian  Hopes  193 

We  freely  give  up  our  lives  and  estates  unto  our 
Lord  King  Jesus  and  to  his  people,  to  become  soldiers 
of  the  Lamb's  army,  abhorring  mercenary  principles 
and  interests.  And  for  this  work's  sake  we  desire  not 
to  love  our  lives  unto  the  death,  neither  will  we  ever 
(if  we  may  speak  so  great  a  word  with  reverence  in  the 
fear  of  God)  sheath  our  swords  again  until  Mount  Zion 
becomes  the  joy  of  the  whole  earth.^ 

One  of  the  prophetesses  of  the  movement 
stresses  mystical  knowledge  as  a  peculiar  source 
of  millennial  wisdom,  in  contrast  with  the 
information  to  be  derived  from  careful  study. 
While  in  a  state  of  trance  she  enjoins  her 
companions  thus: 

Thou  shalt  read  the  visions  John  had, 

Not  after  the  learned  doctor's  way; 

But  thou  shalt  read  them  in  plainness, 

And  clear  light  in  thy  day. 

Thou  shalt  not  read  what's  spoke  of  Dragon 

and  Beast 
With  university  art; 

But  thou  shalt  read  with  kings  seven  eyes 
And  an  enlightened  heart. 
Thou  shalt  not  run  to  antichrist's  libraries, 
To  fetch  from  thence  any  skill 
To  read  the  Revelation  of  Christ, 
But  be  with  knowledge  fill'd.'' 

^  Cited  by  Champlin  Burrage  in  the  English  Historical  Review^ 
XXV  (19 10),  722-47. 

2  Ihid.,  XXVI  (1911),  526-35. 


194  The  Millennial  Hope 

The  communistic  motive  appears  again  in 
the  so-called  Ronsdorf  sect,  founded  in  1726 
at  Elberfeld  in  Germany,  but  later  removed  to 
Ronsdorf.  For  a  quarter  of  a  century  this 
movement  prospered,  receiving  support,  not 
only  from  Germany,  but  also  from  Switzerland, 
Holland,  and  England.  The  movement  also 
had  its  mystical  side.  A  girl  who  was  early 
converted  to  the  new  teaching  experienced 
ecstasies  in  which  she  received  alleged  revela- 
tions from  heaven,  disclosing  the  glories  of  the 
new  kingdom  whose  advent  was  at  first  pre- 
dicted for  the  year  1730.  Later  this  girl 
became  the  wife  of  the  founder  of  the  move- 
ment, Elias  EUer,  who  now  declared  that  he 
and  his  wife  were  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  and  were 
chosen  to  establish  the  New  Jerusalem.  She 
was  said  to  be  the  mother  of  Zion  and  the 
woman  clothed  with  the  sun  (Rev.  12:1). 
Also  she  and  her  husband  were  identified  with 
the  two  witnesses  referred  to  in  Rev.  11:3. 
Encouraged  by  success,  the  founder  soon 
afiirmed  that  he  was  virtually  the  author  of  the 
new  order.  He  now  taught  that  the  fulness  of 
Godhead  dwelt  in  himself,  and  that  his  divinely 
inspired  wife  was  the  medium  of  a  new  revela- 
tion.   Deceased  saints  were  presently  to  appear 


Later  Christian  Hopes  195 

upon  earth  again  as  members  of  the  new  com- 
munity, and  the  savior  of  the  world  was  to  be 
born  in  the  person  of  one  of  Eller's  children. 
This  strange  movement  prospered  for  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  sending  out  missionaries 
to  different  countries,  but  it  declined  rapidly 
after  the  death  of  its  founder  in  1750. 

About  the  same  time  millenarianism  received 
a  new  impetus  in  the  world  of  scholarship 
through  a  commentary  on  the  Book  of  Revela- 
tion issued  by  the  German  theologian  J.  A. 
Bengel  in  the  year  1740.  His  motive  was 
historical  and  scriptural,  in  contrast  with  the 
communistic  and  mystical  interests  which  had 
previously  wielded  so  strong  an  influence  in  the 
perpetuation  of  millennial  hopes.  BengePs 
principle  of  interpretation  was  to  ascertain  the 
plain  meaning  of  the  Book  of  Revelation, 
rejecting  the  allegorizing  and  spiritualizing 
method  of  exposition  which  had  been  in  vogue 
among  scholars  since  the  time  of  Origen. 
Having  determined  that  the  literal  interpreta- 
tion of  the  book  was  clearly  millenarian,  Bengel 
adopted  this  view  as  authoritative  for  his  own 
thinking  and  fixed  upon  the  year  1836  for  the 
inauguration  of  the  millennium.  His  work  is 
especially    significant    because    it    gave    new 


196  The  Millennial  Hope 

stimulus  to  a  distinctly  academic  tendency 
which  constructs  millennial  speculations  from 
biblical  texts,  and  justifies  them  by  affirming 
the  verbal  inspiration  of  Scripture. 

During  the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth 
century  the  mystical  and  communistic  motives 
emerged  again,  this  time  in  England,  resulting 
in  the  establishment  of  the  Shaker  movement. 
A  certain  Ann  Lee  believed  herself  to  be  the 
inspired  medium  of  divinely  revealed  teachings 
regarding  the  holy  estate  of  celibacy.  Having 
met  resistance  in  England,  instructed  by 
revelations,  she  came  to  America  in  1774  where 
various  Shaker  settlements  were  formed.  These 
societies  were  communistic  in  type,  the  men  and 
women  living  in  separate  groups.  The  last 
days  were  beheved  to  be  at  hand.  The  history 
of  the  world  was  divided  into  four  cycles,  the 
first  extending  to  the  flood,  the  second  covering 
the  period  from  the  flood  to  the  appearing  of 
Jesus,  the  third  continuing  down  to  the  time  of 
Ann  Lee,  and  the  fourth  embracing  the  pres- 
ent, which  is  to  issue  in  the  establishment 
of  the  new  age.  The  first  step  in  the  pro- 
cess of  restoration  is  the  organization  of  the 
Shaker  church,  reproducing  the  primitive 
purity    of    pentecostal    times    and    marking 


Later  Christian  Hopes  197 

the  beginning  of  Christ's  new  kingdom  upon 
earth. 

The  French  Revolution,  which  shook  all 
Western  Europe  to  its  foundations,  aroused  new 
interest  in  millennial  speculation.  Mystical 
revelations,  combined  with  fanciful  interpre- 
tations of  political  happenings,  were  thought  to 
furnish  clear  evidences  of  the  near  end  of  the 
world.  In  Germany,  for  example,  Schonherr, 
a  theosophist  of  Konigsberg,  declared  that  the 
coming  of  Christ  was  imminent.  Napoleon 
was  identified  with  the  Antichrist  of  Scripture, 
and  Konigsberg  with  its  seven  hills  was  believed 
to  be  the  city  whose  doom  had  been  predicted  in 
Rev.  17:9  ff.  A  generation  after  Schonherr, 
who  died  in  1826,  another  instance  of  revived 
millennialism  appeared  in  a  socialistic  move- 
ment organized  by  Christoph  Hoffmann.  He 
proposed  to  rebuild  the  Jerusalem  temple  in 
preparation  for  the  return  of  Christ.  Although 
unable  to  carry  out  this  intention,  he  did  suc- 
ceed in  assembling  followers  who  constituted 
themselves  into  a  distinct  "people  of  God." 
But  millennial  teaching  in  Germany  during  the 
nineteenth  century  found  its  chief  supporters, 
not  in  separatist  sects,  but  within  the  regular 
Protestant  churches.     Holding  to  the  notion 


1 98  The  Millennial  Hope 

of  a  verbally  inspired  Scripture,  interpreters 
followed  the  lines  laid  down  by  Bengel,  supple- 
menting scriptural  exegesis  by  mystical  leanings 
or  by  reference  to  various  signs  of  the  times 
which  were  taken  to  foreshadow  the  speedy 
return  of  Christ. 

In  the  British  Isles  the  nineteenth  century 
produced  two  noteworthy  millennial  sects 
known  as  the  Catholic  Apostolic  church  (or  the 
Irvingites)  and  the  Plymouth  Brethren  (or 
Darbyites).  In  the  year  1823  Edward  Irving, 
a  Scotch  Presbyterian  who  had  gained  popu- 
larity as  a  preacher  in  London,  published  a  book 
embodying  his  views  regarding  the  coming 
judgment.  The  book  made  a  strong  impres- 
sion upon  a  rich  banker,  Henry  Drummond, 
who  lived  at  Albury,  southwest  of  London. 
Beginning  in  1826,  he  held  a  series  of  yearly 
conferences  at  his  home,  where  laymen  and 
clergymen  sympathetic  with  the  movement 
gathered  to  study  prophecy.  In  the  meantime 
Irving  became  more  ardent  in  his  advocacy  of 
millennial  teaching,  going  so  far  as  to  ^  upon 
the  year  1864  as  the  date  for  Christ's  return. 

The  exposition  of  prophecy  had  been  the 
dominant  interest  of  the  group  which  met 
regularly  at  Drummond's  home.     In   1830  a 


Later  Christian  Hopes  199 

mystical  note  was  added.  It  was  reported  that 
the  power  of  uttering  supernatural  communica- 
tions had  recently  been  exhibited  among  the 
members  of  a  certain  Presbyterian  family 
living  near  Glasgow.  Drummond  sent  investi- 
gators to  visit  the  family,  and  soon  after  a 
report  of  the  genuineness  of  these  utterances  had 
been  received  similar  powers  were  displayed  by 
certain  members  of  Irving^s  church  in  London. 
These  new  prophets,  speaking  in  the  Spirit, 
frequently  exclaimed,  ^'Behold  the  bridegroom 
Cometh.  Go  ye  out  to  meet  him,"  or  ^^The 
body  of  Christ.''  These  utterances  were  taken 
by  the  credulous  to  be  clear  evidences  that  the 
advent  of  Christ  was  near. 

At  first  Irving,  the  dominant  figure  in  the 
new  movement,  regarded  himself  as  the  angel 
of  the  new  church.  But  his  leadership  was  soon 
supplanted  by  that  of  the  Spirit  working 
through  the  new  prophets.  At  this  point  the 
familiar  millennial  notion  of  a  new  spiritual 
church,  prepared  to  receive  Christ  at  his  coming, 
was  given  prominence.  In  the  belief  that  this 
preparation  could  be  effected  only  through  the 
Spirit  working  in  the  ministries  and  ordinances 
of  the  church,  an  effort  was  made  to  restore  the 
form  of  ecclesiastical  government  current  in 


200  The  Millennial  Hope 

apostolic  times.  Accordingly  modern  apostles 
were  selected  to  lead  the  movement,  the  selec- 
tion being  made  to  depend  entirely  upon  the  will 
of  the  Spirit  speaking  through  the  modern 
ecstatic  prophets.  This  restored  spiritual  apos- 
tolic church  also  instituted  a  missionary  propa- 
ganda aiming  to  assemble  from  various 
countries  a  body  of  true  saints  prepared  to  greet 
Christ  at  his  coming. 

The  Plymouth  Brethren  is  a  kindred  move- 
ment also  aiming  to  restore  the  purity  of  the 
primitive  church  in  preparation  for  the  early 
return  of  Christ.  Between  1827  and  1831  in 
Ireland  at  Dublin,  and  in  England  at  Plymouth, 
representatives  of  this  type  of  teaching  were 
active,  and  distinct  assemblies  were  formed. 
A  protest  was  raised  against  ministerial  ordina- 
tion and  all  formal  ecclesiastical  procedure. 
The  ideal  assembly  was  to  be  found  where  two 
or  three  were  gathered  together  in  Jesus* 
name  with  him  in  their  midst.  In  addition 
to  this  interest  in  restoring  the  primitive 
Christian  society,  interpretation  of  apocalyptic 
prophecy  also  played  an  important  role.  The 
imagery  of  Daniel  and  Revelation  was  worked 
up  into  an  elaborate  program  of  events 
to    occur    in   connection   with    the   early   re- 


Later  Christian  Hopes  201 

turn  of  Christ  and  the  estabHshment  of  the 
millennium. 

At  about  the  same  time  new  millennial  move- 
ments emerged  in  America.  The  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ  of  the  Latter  Day  Saints,  more 
familiarly  known  as  the  Mormons,  originated 
in  1830  at  Fayette,  in  the  state  of  New  York. 
Back  of  the  movement  lay  both  mystical  and 
communistic  motives,  as  well  as  a  desire  to 
restore  the  church  to  its  primitive  simplicity. 
Tradition  represents  the  founder,  Joseph  Smith, 
as  a  mystic,  who  received  unique  divine  revela- 
tions guiding  him  in  the  establishment  of  a  new 
church  and  in  the  preparation  of  a  new  sacred 
scripture,  the  Book  of  Mormon.  This  scripture 
was  supposed  to  reproduce  the  word  of  God 
previously  revealed  to  the  ancient  inhabitants 
of  America.  Smith's  aim  was  to  found  a  new 
community  on  the  present  earth,  a  present  city 
of  Zion,  where  Christ  on  his  return  would  set 
up  his  millennial  kingdom.  After  various 
unfortunate  attempts  this  new  sect  finally 
established  itself  at  Salt  Lake  City  to  await  the 
advent  of  Christ.  In  the  meantime  the  spirit- 
ual gifts  of  ancient  times  were  to  be  restored 
in  the  form  of  tongues,  prophecies,  visions, 
revelations,  heahngs,  and  other  phenomena  of 


202  The  Millennial  Hope 

mystical  experience  credited  to  the  renewed 
activity  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  was  supposed 
to  have  forsaken  the  historical  church. 

Another  form  of  millennial  propaganda  was 
begun  in  1 83 1  by  William  Miller,  of  Low  Hamp- 
ton, New  York.  He  was  the  founder  of  the 
Adventists  (or  Millerites),  of  whom  there  are 
at  present  several  different  branches.  From  a 
study  of  scriptural  texts  Miller  concluded  that 
Christ  was  to  return  in  person  to  establish  the 
millennium.  The  date  for  this  event  was  first 
fixed  at  1843,  ^^nd  then  it  was  moved  down  to 
October  22, 1844.  Subsequently  greater  reserve 
was  practiced  in  fixing  a  specific  date,  but  faith 
in  the  early  advent  of  Christ  did  not  waver. 

In  more  recent  times  millennial  hopes  have 
been  most  vigorously  advocated  by  individuals 
within  various  Christian  communities  rather 
than  by  different  separatist  sects.  The  propa- 
ganda has  also  been  mainly  a  didactic  and 
exegetical  one,  although  mystical  tendencies 
have  not  been  lacking.  One  of  the  corner- 
stones of  this  teaching  is  rigid  maintenance  of 
the  dogma  of  verbal  inspiration  and  the  alleged 
superior  insight  of  the  "spiritual  man^'  into  the 
secrets  of  the  Scripture.  Historical  investiga- 
tion of  the  circumstances  under  which  a  biblical 


Later  Christian  Hopes  203 

book  arose  and  familiarity  with  the  immediate 
problems  or  experiences  of  the  author  and  his 
first  readers  are  not  regarded  as  an  essential 
preparation  for  the  interpretation  of  Scripture. 
In  fact  such  studies  are  thought  to  constitute  a 
real  barrier  to  the  true  understanding  of  the 
Bible.  By  simply  reading  his  own  subjectivism 
into  Scripture,  the  man  who  believes  himself 
spiritually  enlightened  follows  the  advice  of 
the  Fifth  Monarchy  prophetess,  employing  no 
"university  art"  to  read  what  is  spoken  of 
dragon  or  beast,  nor  does  he  "run  to  anti- 
christ's libraries''  for  wisdom  to  interpret  the 
revelation  of  Christ.  His  own  inner  Hght  is 
quite  sufficient  for  the  task. 

A  vigorous,  modern  millenarian  propaganda 
was  conducted  for  several  years  by  the  late 
Charles  T.  Russell,  of  "millennial  dawn"  fame. 
In  the  year  1886  he  began  a  series  of  volumes 
advocating  millennial  views  by  a  familiar 
process  of  fanciful  scriptural  interpretation. 
In  Thy  Kingdom  Come,  pubhshed  in  1891,  the 
millennium  was  said  to  have  been  invisibly 
inaugurated  in  the  year  1874  and  the  end  of  the 
present  world  was  prophesied  for  the  year  19 14. 
The  movement,  though  chiefly  inspired  by  one 
man,    has   produced   an   abundant   literature 


204  The  Millennial  Hope 

which  has  been  distributed  diligently  through- 
out different  parts  of  the  world. 

A  more  influential  group  of  modern  mil- 
lenarians  carry  on  their  teaching,  not  as  a  sepa- 
rate body,  but  as  members  of  any  denomination 
with  which  they  may  chance  to  be  connected. 
Although  their  efforts  are  often  persistent  and 
carefully  planned,  there  is  no  disposition  on 
their  part  to  organize  an  independent  society. 
Yet  a  distinct  movement  has  been  in  evidence 
especially  since  1878,  when  adherents  of  these 
opinions  assembled  from  various  denominations 
to  attend  a  "Prophetic  Conference '^  held  in 
New  York.  Those  who  signed  the  call  for  the 
conference  represented  ten  different  commu- 
nions— Presbyterian,  United  Presbyterian,  Bap- 
tist, Episcopalian,  Reformed  EpiscopaHan, 
Congregationalist,  Methodist,  Adventist,  Dutch 
Reformed,  and  Lutheran.  Disciples  of  the 
movement  regard  themselves  as  the  "true 
church"  within  every  church,  whatever  their 
denominational  connections  may  be;  and  the 
leading  advocates  of  this  teaching,  when  using 
any  distinctive  self-designation,  style  themselves 
"Evangelists."  Their  preaching  professes  to 
be  an  accurate  and  literal  interpretation  of 
biblical  prophecy,  though  this  interest  is  often 


Later  Christian  Hopes  205 

supplemented  by  strongly  mystical  tendencies. 
It  is  assumed  that  the  entire  Bible  was  written 
with  specific  reference  to  present-day  issues  and 
with  little  or  no  reference  to  ancient  conditions 
prevalent  when  the  various  authors  of  these 
books  lived  and  worked.  As  compared  with 
ancient  millenarian  types  of  scriptural  exposi- 
tion, the  new  features  of  the  modern  propaganda 
consist  chiefly  of  references  to  recent  events  in 
history,  the  foreshadowings  of  which  are 
ingeniously  discovered  in  bibHcal  prophecy. 
The  world- war  which  began  in  19 14  has  given 
new  opportunity  for  the  advocacy  of  these 
views,  nor  have  their  adherents  been  slow  to 
avail  themselves  of  this  advantage.  Affirming 
that  they  are  able  to  discover  new  fulfilments 
of  prophecy  in  the  stirring  events  of  these  times, 
they  insist  anew  that  the  betterment  of  present 
conditions  can  be  effected  only  through  a  sudden 
destruction  of  the  present  order  to  be  followed 
by  the  inauguration  of  Christ's  millennial 
reign  upon  earth. 


CHAPTER  V 
MODERN  ESTIMATE  OF  MILLENNIAL  HOPES 

History  shows  many  variations  in  the  mil- 
lennial type  of  hope.  While  Gentiles,  Jews, 
and  Christians  ahke  looked  for  a  final  release 
from  present  evils  through  some  unique  form  of 
world-renewal,  widely  varying  programs  were 
proposed  for  the  attainment  of  this  end.  Nor 
was  there  a  single  program  for  Gentiles,  or  for 
Jews,  or  for  Christians. 

This  diversity  was  a  natural  outcome  of  the 
varying  circumstances  under  which  millennial 
speculations  arose  and  developed.  They  repre- 
sent the  work  of  different  persons  with  a  variety 
of  tastes,  living  in  different  surroundings 
throughout  a  long  period  of  years.  Diversities 
are  especially  noticeable  among  both  Jews  and 
Christians.  The  changes  in  Hebrew  hopes 
kept  pace  with  changing  experiences  in  the 
national  life,  and  variations  in  Christian  expec- 
tations are  closely  linked  up  with  the  enlarging 
experiences  of  the  Christians  as  the  new  religion 
spread  from  Palestine  into  distant  lands.  At 
one  time  millennialists  have  been  interested  in 

206 


Modern  Estimate  of  Millennial  Hopes    207 

politics,  at  another  time  their  interests  have 
been  social  or  communistic,  some  have  had 
a  fondness  for  mysticism,  and  others  have 
dehghted  in  the  fanciful  interpretation  of 
prophecy.  In  each  case  millennial  hopes  reflect 
the  special  interests  of  their  several  advocates. 
The  fact  of  variety  in  millennial  speculations 
greatly  increased  their  functional  possibihties. 
During  the  course  of  their  history  they  answered 
to  a  wide  range  of  human  needs.  While  always 
concerned  with  the  main  problem  of  eliminating 
evil,  the  particular  forms  of  evil  to  be  abolished 
were  conceived  of  in  various  ways.  At  times 
millennial  imagery  seemed  to  hold  out  a  sure 
way  of  escape  from  the  oppression  of  social  ills. 
Other  exponents  of  this  faith  stressed  the  hope 
of  liberation  from  bodily  sufferings  due  to 
poverty,  sickness,  or  death.  Frequently  this 
type  of  hope  was  a  strong  support  in  the  hour 
of  severe  political  misfortune  or  religious  per- 
secution. In  less  strenuous  times  it  served  as  a 
vehicle  of  fancy,  enabling  the  native  curiosity  of 
the  human  mind  to  construct  for  itself  mar- 
velous pictures  of  the  unknown  future.  Taken 
in  the  large,  the  millennial  type  of  hope  func- 
tioned variously  at  many  periods  in  the  past 
by  sustaining  man's  faith  in  the  triumph  of 


2o8  The  Millennial  Hope 

righteousness  and  providing  a  mighty  hypo- 
thetical instrument  for  the  ultimate  elimination 
of  evil. 

Are  millennial  expectations  capable  of  func- 
tioning efficiently  in  the  modern  world  with  its 
new  problems  and  its  new  knowledge?  At 
present  this  is  a  question  of  unusual  importance. 
Today  a  fresh  realization  of  life's  ills  has  been 
thrust  upon  us  by  the  frightful  disaster  of  a 
world- war.  In  this  moment  of  sore  affliction, 
when  all  the  skill  and  energy  of  humanity  seem 
wholly  diverted  into  channels  of  destruction,  it 
is  perfectly  natural  for  many  persons  to  follow 
the  example  of  the  past  and  seek  to  ward  off  the 
recurrence  of  such  a  calamity  by  predicting  a 
speedy  end  of  the  present  world  and  the  miracu- 
lous inauguration  of  a  new  age  when  men  shall 
no  more  learn  war.  But  serviceable  as  this  type 
of  hope  may  have  been  to  cheer  the  afflicted  in 
days  gone  by,  its  efficacy  in  the  present  situation 
is  open  to  serious  question.  Can  men  today 
continue  with  confidence  to  expect  a  cataclysmic 
reversal  of  present  conditions,  or  does  the  light 
of  experience  and  present  knowledge  demand 
the  adoption  of  a  more  constructive,  though  less 
spectacular,  program  for  the  renovation  of  the 
world  ? 


Modern  Estimate  of  Millennial  Hopes    209 

I 

Some  of  the  programs  offered  by  present-day 
millennialists  for  the  solution  of  the  modem 
world's  ills  have  been  worked  out  in  great  detail. 
This  is  more  particularly  true  of  the  premil- 
lennialists  than  of  the  postmillennialists.  The 
latter  do  not  look  for  early  relief  through  the 
sudden  coming  of  Christ.  On  the  contrary, 
they  expect  a  gradual  and  increasing  success  of 
Christianity  in  the  present  world  until  ideal 
conditions  are  finally  realized.  Then  will  follow 
the  millennium.  At  its  close  a  brief  period  of 
apostasy  will  set  in,  when  Christians  will 
engage  in  fierce  conflict  with  evil  powers  which 
have  been  liberated  for  a  short  time  before  their 
ultimate  destruction.  After  the  brief  period 
of  final  tribulation  is  past,  Christ  will  come  in 
glory,  a  general  resurrection  will  occur,  judg- 
ment will  be  enacted,  the  old  world  will  be 
destroyed  by  fire,  the  wicked  will  be  consigned 
to  torment,  and  the  righteous  will  enter  upon 
an  eternal  life  of  bliss. 

The  premillennialists,  on  the  other  hand, 
expect  a  much  earlier  return  of  Christ,  and 
deny  all  possibility  of  a  gradual  process  of  bet- 
terment as  the  millennium  approaches.  The 
details  of  their  program  in  the  form  most  widely 


2IO  The  Millennial  Hope 

current  at  present  are  as  follows.  The  present 
world  is  rapidly  growing  worse  as  the  cata- 
strophic end  approaches.  In  the  meantime  the 
function  of  the  church  is  to  prepare  a  group  of 
saints  for  membership  in  the  new  kingdom  of 
Christ  later  to  be  revealed.  But  not  all 
members  of  the  visible  church  are  to  be  saved. 
The  true  church  is  the  mystical  body  of  Christ, 
a  select  company  within  Christendom.  The 
task  of  the  church  in  the  present  world  is  to  be 
a  witness  especially  to  the  doctrine  of  Christ's 
return.  When  this  work  of  witnessing  is 
completed,  or  at  an  earlier  date  if  God  so 
decrees,  the  true  church  will  be  removed  from 
the  world.  God  alone  knows  precisely  when 
this  change  will  take  place,  but  premillen- 
nialists  find  ample  evidence  in  the  Scripture 
and  in  the  contemporary  world  to  convince 
them  that  the  end  is  imminent.  It  may  occur 
today  or  tomorrow,  and  it  certainly  will  occur 
very  shortly. 

When  Christ  returns  he  does  not  immediately 
descend  to  the  earth,  but  tarries  in  the  upper 
air.  Here  he  is  met  by  his  bride,  the  church, 
snatched  up  from  the  earth  like  Enoch  of  old. 
This  privilege  will  be  bestowed  upon  true 
Christians,   who   are   the   church   within   the 


Modern  Estimate  of  Millennial  Hopes    211 

church,  the  wheat  among  the  chaff.  This  aerial 
assembly  will  include  the  righteous  dead 
restored  to  life,  living  believers  who  have  been 
suddenly  transformed  for  the  occasion,  and 
Old  Testament  worthies.  Except  for  missing 
their  translated  friends,  those  who  remain  upon 
earth  may  be  wholly  unaware  that  anything 
phenomenal  has  occurred.  For  a  time  the 
returned  heavenly  bridegroom  and  his  glorified 
church  bride  remain  suspended  in  the  air  en- 
joying their  honeymoon,  while  evil  conditions 
upon  earth  rapidly  reach  a  climax.  This  trans- 
lation of  the  saints  is  technically  known  as  the 
^^  rapture.'' 

Now  that  the  saints  have  been  removed  from 
the  earth,  God  permits  the  terrible  tribulation 
of  the  last  times  to  descend  upon  mortals.  The 
Jews  return  to  Palestine,  where  some  of  their 
number  are  converted  to  faith  in  Christ,  and 
thus  for  them  "at  evening  time  it  shall  be 
light."  The  Antichrist  appears,  filling  the 
earth  with  his  depredations.  A  sufficient  time 
must  elapse  for  all  forms  of  prophesied  tribula- 
tion to  be  accomplished  before  the  day  of  the 
Lord  comes.  The  exact  length  of  the  interim 
is  not  known,  though  it  will  be  a  relatively  short 
season.    It  will  not  be  less  than  seven  years,  and 


212  The  Millennial  Hope 

probably  it  will  be  somewhat  longer.  Wicked- 
ness will  be  rampant,  and  indescribable  agonies 
will  afflict  the  earth.  The  time,  however,  is  to 
be  sliortened  for  the  sake  of  those  elect  Jews 
who  shall  be  converted,  although  even  they 
are  destined  to  be  slain  by  Antichrist.  In  the 
meantime  Christ  and  the  saints  rapturously 
await  the  moment  when  they  are  to  descend 
visibly  to  earth. 

At  last  Christ  and  his  companions  are 
revealed  in  the  midst  of  flaming  fire,  descending 
to  execute  judgment  upon  sinners.  Antichrist, 
who  has  exalted  himself  to  the  rulership  of  the 
earth,  shall  perish.  His  earthly  capital,  the 
restored  Babylon,  will  be  completely  over- 
thrown in  all  its  wickedness.  The  hosts  of  evil 
will  be  destroyed,  the  beast  and  the  false 
prophet  will  be  apprehended,  and  they  along 
with  Satan  will  be  consigned  to  the  lower 
regions.  Those  persons  who  had  accepted 
Christ  during  the  period  of  the  tribulation,  and 
who  have  died  before  he  finally  descends  to 
earth,  will  now  be  raised  to  join  him  and  the 
saints  in  a  glorious  reign  of  one  thousand  years 
upon  the  purified  earth. 

As  the  millennium  draws  to  a  close,  Satan 
will  be  loosed  for  a  season.    But  his  liberty  is 


Modern  Estimate  of  Millennial  Hopes    213 

soon  at  an  end.  He  calls  Gog  and  Magog  to 
his  assistance,  with  a  mighty  host  as  numerous 
as  the  sands  of  the  sea,  to  fight  against  the 
saints  who  dwell  in  Jerusalem.  These  enemies 
of  Christ  are  quickly  devoured  by  heavenly  fire, 
and  Satan  is  cast  into  the  burning  pit,  there  to 
endure  eternal  torment.  This  event  is  followed 
by  the  resurrection  of  all  the  ungodly,  who 
assemble  before  the  great  white  throne  to 
receive  sentence  from  the  judge  of  both  living 
and  dead.  They  are  consigned  to  the  fires  of 
torment,  whither  they  are  followed  by  the 
wicked  angels,  who  also  receive  condemnation 
at  this  time.  With  all  the  forces  of  evil  thus 
finally  assigned  to  fitting  abodes  of  eternal 
punishment,  the  righteous  enter  upon  a  life  of 
eternal  blessedness. 

Such  is  the  program  offered  by  premillen- 
nialists  to  the  modern  world  as  an  ideal  method 
of  eliminating  its  ills.  Can  this  program  be 
accepted  with  confidence  at  the  present  time  ? 

II 

The  scriptural  test  is  often  advanced  as  a 
guaranty  of  the  validity  of  millenarianism. 
This  is  particularly  true  of  the  propaganda  in 
its  present  form.     May  it  not  be  said  that 


214  The  Millennial  Hope 

premillenarians  truly  reproduce  biblical  views 
and  that  they  are  therefore  deserving  of  our 
full  confidence? 

Undoubtedly  the  ancient  Hebrew  prophets 
announced  the  advent  of  a  terrible  day  of 
Jehovah  when  the  old  order  of  things  would 
suddenly  pass  away.  Later  prophets  foretold 
a  day  of  restoration  for  the  exiles  when  all 
nature  would  be  miraculously  changed  and  an 
ideal  kingdom  of  David  established.  The  seers 
of  subsequent  times  portrayed  the  coming  of  a 
truly  heavenly  rule  of  God  when  the  faithful 
would  participate  in  millennial  blessings.  Early 
Christians  expected  soon  to  behold  Christ  re- 
turning upon  the  clouds  even  as  they  had  seen 
him  in  their  visions  literally  ascending  into 
heaven.  In  times  of  persecution  faith  in  the 
return  of  Christ  shone  with  new  luster,  as 
afflicted  beHevers  confidently  exclaimed,  "Be- 
hold, he  Cometh  with  the  clouds;  and  every  eye 
shall  see  him,  and  the  saints  shall  reign  with 
him  a  thousand  years."^  So  far  as  the  use  of 
this  type  of  imagery  is  concerned,  millenarian- 
ism  may  quite  properly  claim  to  be  biblical. 
Unquestionably  certain  biblical  writers  expected 
a  catastrophic  end  of  the  world.    They  depicted 

'^  Rev.  1:7;  20:6, 


Modern  Estimate  of  Millennial  Hopes    215 

the  days  of  sore  distress  immediately  to  precede 
the  final  catastrophe,  they  proclaimed  the 
visible  return  of  the  heavenly  Christ,  and  they 
eagerly  awaited  the  revelation  of  the  New 
Jerusalem. 

Any  attempt  to  evade  these  literalistic  fea- 
tures of  biblical  imagery  is  futile.  Ever  since 
Origen's  day  certain  interpreters  of  Scripture 
have  sought  to  refute  millennial  expectations  by 
affirming  that  even  the  most  striking  statements 
about  Jesus'  return  are  to  be  understood  figura- 
tively. It  has  also  been  said  that  Daniel  and 
Revelation  are  highly  mystical  and  allegorical 
works  not  intended  to  refer  to  actual  events, 
whether  past,  present,  or  future,  but  have  a 
purely  spiritual  significance  like  that  of  Milton's 
Paradise  Lost  or  Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress. 
These  are  evasive  devices  designed  to  bring 
these  Scriptures  into  harmony  with  present 
conditions,  while  ignoring  the  vivid  expectancy 
of  the  ancients.  The  afflicted  Jews  of  Mac- 
cabean  times  were  demanding,  not  a  figurative, 
but  a  literal,  end  of  their  troubles,  nor  did 
Daniel  promise  them  anything  less  than  the 
actual  establishment  of  a  new  heavenly  regime. 
In  a  similarly  realistic  vein  an  early  Christian 
wrote,  "You  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  sitting  at 


2i6  The  Millennial  Hope 

the  right  hand  of  power  and  coming  with  the 
clouds  of  heaven,"  or  again,  ^' There  are  some 
here  of  them  that  stand  by  who  shall  in  no  wise 
taste  of  death  till  they  see  the  kingdom  of  God 
come  with  power.  "^  Imagine  the  shock  to 
Mark  had  he  been  told  that  this  expectation  was 
already  realized  in  the  appearances  of  Jesus 
after  the  resurrection,  or  in  the  ecstatic  experi- 
ences of  the  disciples  at  Pentecost,  or  in  the 
salvation  of  the  individual  Christians  at  death. 
And  who  can  imagine  Mark's  feelings  had  he 
also  been  told,  in  certain  modern  fashion,  that 
his  prediction  of  Christ's  return  was  to  be  ful- 
filled in  the  Lutheran  Reformation,  in  the 
French  Revolution,  in  the  Wesleyan  Revival, 
in  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves,  in  the  spread 
of  foreign  missions,  in  the  democratization  of 
Russia,  or  in  the  outcome  of  the  present  world- 
war?  Premillennialists  are  thoroughly  justi- 
fied in  their  protest  against  those  opponents 
who  allegorize  or  spiritualize  pertinent  biblical 
passages,  thus  retaining  scriptural  phrases 
while  utterly  perverting  their  original  signifi- 
cance. 

On  the  other  hand,  premillenarianism  has  its 
own  way  of  perverting  Scripture.     To  illustrate, 

^  Mark  14:62;  9:1. 


Modern  Estimate  of  Millennial  Hopes    217 

Moses  is  declared  to  have  been  an  explicit 
believer  in  the  second  advent  of  Christ.  The 
proof-text  cited  as  evidence  of  Moses'  opinion  is, 
"Jehovah  came  from  Sinai  and  rose  from  Seir 
unto  them;  he  shined  forth  from  Mount  Paran, 
and  he  came  from  the  ten  thousands  of  holy 
ones;  at  his  right  hand  was  a  fiery  law  for 
them."'  It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  verse  in 
the  Bible  which  both  by  context  and  content 
refers  more  specifically  to  that  epoch-making 
moment  in  Hebrew  tradition  when  Jehovah 
dehvered  the  law  to  Moses.  But  scriptural 
context  and  content  are  completely  ignored  by 
premillennialists,  who  assume  that  every  an- 
cient worthy  shared  their  own  state  of  mind. 
Similarly  the  utterances  of  the  prophets  warning 
the  Hebrews  of  ancient  times  to  prepare  for  a 
speedy  national  disaster  are  transformed  into 
predictions  of  a  far-off  event  alleged  to  be 
imminent  only  now,  nearly  three  thousand  years 
after  the  times  of  the  prophets.  The  fact  that 
a  prophet  refers  explicitly  to  the  contempo- 
rary power  of  Assyria  or  Egypt  as  Jehovah's 
instrument  of  punishment  is  ignored,  and  the 
biblical  phrases  are  straightway  applied  to 
imaginary  events  yet  to  transpire  long  after  the 

^  Deut.  33:2. 


2i8  The  Millennial  Hope 

kingdoms  of  Assyria  and  Egypt  have  ceased  to 
exist. 

Jewish  thinking  of  post-exilic  times  is  Hke- 
wise  divested  of  its  distinctive  content  and 
transformed  into  a  mere  semblance  of  its 
original  self.  The  prophetic  expectation  of  a 
restored  national  life,  when  the  Jews  of  the 
Dispersion  were  to  return  ''from  Assyria  and 
from  Egypt  and  from  Pathros  and  from  Cush 
and  from  Elam  and  from  Hamath  and  from 
Shinar  and  from  the  coast  lands,  "^  is  made  to 
refer  to  the  movements  of  Jews  in  modern  times 
from  Europe  and  America  back  to  Jerusalem. 
And  the  prophets'  marvelous  highway  to  be 
miraculously  prepared  by  God  for  the  passage  of 
the  returning  exiles  becomes  the  modern  railway 
from  Joppa  to  Jerusalem,  while  the  engine  draw- 
ing the  train  fulfils  Nahum's  reference  to  the 
chariots  flashing  with  steel  "in  the  day  of  his 
preparation."^  Imagine,  if  you  can,  the  post- 
exilic  prophets  urging  their  Jewish  kinsmen  of 
Assyria  and  Epypt  to  hold  fast  their  faith  in 
God,  awaiting  with  assurance  a  coming  deliver- 
ance to  be  initiated  some  twenty-five  hundred 
years  later  by  the  use  of  a  modern  railroad  from 
Joppa  to  Jerusalem.     The  true  premillennialist 

^Isa.  ii:ii.  2  Nah.  2:3. 


Modern  Estimate  of  Millennial  Hopes    219 

can  perform  this  feat  of  fancy  with  the  ease  of 
a  professional  acrobat,  at  the  same  time  solemnly 
affirming  that  he  stands  upon  the  sohd  rock  of 
Scripture. 

Since  the  language  of  Jewish  apocalyptic  is 
often  designedly  obscure,  perversions  of  its 
meaning  are  not  always  so  self-evident  as  in  the 
case  of  the  prophets.  Yet  such  perversions  are 
even  more  abundant  in  the  premillennialists' 
program.  Texts  from  the  Book  of  Daniel  are 
employed  without  the  slightest  regard  for  the 
author's  own  immediate  experiences  and  prob- 
lems. His  references  to  the  sufferings  endured 
by  the  Jews  of  the  author's  own  day  are  quite 
ignored.  Instead  of  writing  primarily  to 
strengthen  the  faith  and  courage  of  his  fellow- 
sufferers,  it  is  assumed  that  he  was  mainly 
interested  in  depicting  a  distant  scene  still 
awaiting  realization  after  a  lapse  of  more  than 
two  thousand  years.  The  profanation  of  the 
sanctuary  at  Jerusalem,  the  discontinuance  of 
the  burnt  offering,  the  abominable  heathen 
image  within  the  temple  inclosure,  and  other 
phases  of  affliction  distressing  the  pious  soul  of 
the  author  of  Daniel  become  fanciful  future  hap- 
penings belonging  to  an  imaginary  period  of  trib- 
ulation to  precede  the  anticipated  catastrophic 


220  The  Millennial  Hope 

end  of  the  present  world.  It  avails  nothing  with 
the  premillenarian  that  the  writer  of  Daniel 
sought  to  cheer  his  contemporaries  by  assigning 
a  limit  of  less  than  four  years  for  the  continu- 
ance of  their  sufferings.  This  promise  of  speedy 
relief,  like  the  references  to  distress,  is  violently 
torn  from  history  and  transplanted  into  the 
realm  of  premillennial  fancy. 

New  Testament  writers  receive  similar 
treatment.  It  is  tacitly  assumed  that  all  of 
them  had  their  eyes  riveted  upon  the  same 
phantasmagorical  display  that  entrances  the 
imagination  of  the  premillennialist.  The  earli- 
est Christians'  own  immediate  experiences  and 
problems  are  not  thought  to  have  any  important 
bearing  upon  the  meaning  of  their  words. 

The  fallacy  of  this  procedure  may  be  illus- 
trated by  a  few  examples.  Manifestly  Mark  is 
referring  to  the  destruction  of  the  Jewish  temple 
of  Jesus'  own  day  when  he  reports  Jesus  as 
saying,  "There  shall  not  be  left  here  one  stone 
upon  another  which  shall  not  be  thrown  down." 
Thereupon  the  disciples  press  him  with  the 
question,  "Tell  us  when  shall  these  things  be 
and  what  shall  be  the  sign  when  these  things  are 
about  to  be  accomplished?''  Then  follows  a 
description  of  the  tribulation  leading  up  to  this 


Modern  Estimate  of  Millennial  Hopes    221 

anticipated  disaster,  which  is  regarded  as  part 
of  the  program  of  suffering  immediately  to 
precede  the  end  of  the  world.  The  discourse 
closes  with  the  solemn  declaration  that  the 
generation  then  living  should  not  pass  away 
"until  all  these  things  be  accompKshed/'' 
Although  the  exact  hour  is  not  specified,  the 
end  is  so  near  that  Christians  of  that  day  are 
warned  to  be  ready  at  a  moment's  notice. 
Every  sentence  in  this  description  breathes  keen 
expectancy,  and  the  whole  clearly  reflects  the 
perilous  conditions  of  those  ancient  times.  Pre- 
millennialists,  however,  are  unable  to  take 
serious  account  of  this  vital  setting.  According 
to  their  program  the  period  of  great  tribulation 
is  still  an  affair  of  the  future.  Hence  they  insist 
that  New  Testament  language  be  divorced  from 
its  original  historical  situation  and  revised  in 
meaning  to  suit  hypothetical  conditions  as  yet 
unreaHzed  after  the  lapse  of  more  than  eighteen 
centuries. 

By  ignoring  the  historical  setting  of  the  Book 
of  Revelation,  this  portion  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  also  subjected  to  much  perversion  of 
meaning.  The  use  which  is  made  of  John's 
references    to    the    persecuting    emperor    will 

*  Mark  13:30. 


222  The  Millennial  Hope 

suffice  for  illustration.  John  and  his  fellow- 
Christians  were  enduring  sore  afflictions  for 
their  refusal  to  participate  in  the  worship  of  the 
emperor,  whose  cult  was  being  vigorously 
enforced  in  Western  Asia  Minor.  The  staunch 
faith  and  the  lively  imagination  of  John  rise 
to  the  occasion.  He  pictures  a  glorious 
triumph  of  God  when  the  Roman  emperor 
and  his  priest,  the  entire  Roman  Empire  and 
all  Satanic  powers,  will  perish  utterly  before 
the  onslaught  of  the  heavenly  hosts  with 
Christ  at  their  head.  In  order  to  strengthen 
the  confidence  of  his  fellow-sufferers,  John 
discloses  the  name  of  the  last  emperor 
veiled  in  the  number  666,  and  predicts  the 
speedy  coming  of  destruction  upon  this 
ruler.'  The  renewed  confidence  and  com- 
fort which  these  bold  words  of  assurance 
brought  to  John's  contemporaries  may  easily 
be  imagined. 

When  twentieth-century  premillennial  fancy 
appropriates  the  language  of  the  primitive 
Christian  seer,  his  words  take  on  an  entirely  new 
meaning.  He  is  said  to  have  had  no  real 
concern  either  with  the  persecuting  emperor  or 
with  the  relief  of  his  fellow-Christian  sufferers. 

^  See  above,  p.  149. 


Modern  Estimate  of  Millennial  Hopes    223 

On  the  contrary,  we  are  asked  to  believe  that 
he  had  primarily  in  mind  the  mythical  figure 
of  a  great  champion  of  evil,  the  Antichrist, 
whose  appearance  in  history  was  to  take  place 
more  than  two  thousand  years  later.  Some- 
times an  effort  is  made  to  discover  this 
Antichrist  by  equating  the  number  666  with 
some  pope,  with  Mohammed,  or  with  some 
other  individual  supposed  to  be  a  unique 
embodiment  of  wickedness.  But  unless  the 
end  of  the  world  immediately  follows — and 
it  never  does — the  identification  has  to  be 
abandoned,  for  with  the  work  of  the  real  Anti- 
christ the  present  course  of  history  must  be 
concluded.  The  difficulty  is  evaded  by  sug- 
gesting that  these  alleged  evil  characters  are 
"types,''  but  the  real  person  designated  by 
John  still  remains  to  be  discovered.  And  John's 
emphatic  assertions  regarding  the  imminence  of 
the  end  are  made  a  message  to  our  day  rather 
than  to  his  own  afflicted  contemporaries. 
His  primary  aim  was  not  to  comfort  them  with 
the  promise  of  speedy  relief,  but  to  provide  a 
millennial  program  for  the  twentieth  century. 
When  his  language  is  recast  to  suit  this  end, 
numerous  perversions  of  his  meaning  become 
inevitable. 


2  24  The  Millennial  Hope 

III 

If  modern  premillenarianism  perverts  biblical 
teaching  and  yet  if  the  millennial  hope  is 
actually  present  in  the  Bible,  how  is  this  biblical 
teaching  to  be  estimated  in  modern  times  ?  In 
the  first  place,  it  should  be  remembered  that  the 
Bible  offers,  not  a  single  millennial  program, 
but  a  series  of  hopes  emerging  at  different 
periods  in  the  evolution  of  Hebrew,  Jewish,  and 
Christian  history.  One  type  of  hope  is  framed 
to  meet  the  needs  of  a  primitive  age  in  pre- 
exilic  times.  With  the  experiences  resulting 
from  the  exile,  Hebrew  hopes  take  on  new  forms 
of  expression,  and  their  content  is  transformed 
to  meet  changed  conditions.  This  process  of 
evolution  continues  in  Maccabean  and  in 
Roman  times  as  the  apocalyptic  writers  create 
new  imagery  and  depict  a  new  type  of  kingdom 
of  God  to  come  upon  the  earth. 

Christian  views  show  similar,  though  less 
extensive,  variation.  Immediately  after  Jesus' 
death  his  disciples  depicted  an  early  return  of 
their  master  to  inaugurate  a  new  age.  But 
presently  they  recast  their  first  hope  in  order 
to  allow  a  place  for  their  gentile  missionary 
propaganda.  Then  as  time  passed  they  began 
to  find  at  least  a  partial  and  preliminary  realiza- 


Modern  Estimate  of  Millennial  Hopes    225 

tion  of  their  hopes  within  the  new  movement 
which  Jesus  had  instituted  while  upon  earth. 
The  author  of  the  Fourth  Gospel  placed  so  much 
stress  upon  the  significance  of  Jesus'  earthly- 
work  that  the  demand  for  a  returning  Christ 
became  much  less  imperative.  But  the  majority 
of  Christians  still  looked  to  the  near  future  for 
some  cHmactic  display  of  God's  saving  work. 
Times  of  persecution  stimulated  new  interest  in 
this  type  of  speculation  and  resulted  in  such  new 
pictures  of  triumph  as  those  exhibited  in  the 
Book  of  Revelation. 

A  proper  estimate  of  these  varied  hopes 
cannot  be  arrived  at  by  means  of  harmonization 
or  mutual  superimposition.  In  producing  any 
such  composite  photograph  the  features  of  one 
image  are  completely  obscured,  another  becomes 
so  badly  distorted  as  to  be  unrecognizable,  and 
a  third  is  given  arms  or  legs  altogether  out  of 
proportion  to  the  rest  of  its  anatomy.  Any 
consistent  schematizing  of  all  biblical  millennial 
hopes  will  necessarily  result  in  a  purely  artificial 
and  lifeless  product.  But  viewed  as  individual 
expressions  of  opinion  emerging  at  definite 
periods  in  history  and  within  specific  environ- 
ments, the  hopes  of  the  ancients  take  on  reality 
and  life  and  are  capable  of  being  evaluated  in 


226  The  Millennial  Hope 

terms  of  their  functional  significance  in  ancient 
times.  It  is  possible,  and  it  might  prove  truly 
profitable,  to  estimate  the  significance  for  their 
own  day  of  the  hopes  of  Isaiah  or  Ezekiel  or 
Daniel  or  Paul  or  Mark  or  the  author  of  the 
Gospel  of  John  or  the  seer  of  Revelation. 
These  views  were  entertained  by  real  people  and 
were  advanced  as  solutions  to  specific  problems, 
and  so  are  capable  of  being  estimated  in  terms 
of  their  value  to  the  ancient  man  or  in  terms  of 
their  value  to  moderns.  In  the  same  way  the 
views  of  the  modern  millennialist,  being  his  own 
peculiar  possession,  have  their  significance  for 
him.  But  biblical  teaching  as  a  hypothetical 
unit  never  had  any  significance  to  anyone,  for 
no  one  person — at  least  no  person  in  his  right 
mind — ever  did  or  ever  can  truly  entertain  all 
of  these  various  opinions  at  one  and  the  same 
moment  in  history. 

The  millennial  type  of  hope  in  its  different 
forms  was  often  of  great  worth  to  the  ancients. 
It  helped  them  to  maintain  their  faith  in  the 
triumph  of  righteousness  at  times  when  life's 
ills  seemed  overwhelming  and  no  other  way  of 
escape  seemed  open.  At  crucial  moments  in 
his  experience  the  devout  believer  gave  wings 
to  his  imagination  and  formulated  a  program  of 


Modern  Estimate  of  Millennial  Hopes    227 

divine  intervention  phrased  in  language  and 
imagery  suited  to  his  own  immediate  needs. 
An  Isaiah  stimulated  his  contemporaries  to 
righteous  living  by  predicting  a  terrible  day  of 
Jehovah  when  the  Hebrew  nation  would  perish, 
Ezekiel  cheered  the  exiles  and  inculcated  holi- 
ness by  portraying  the  hope  of  a  glorious  return 
to  Palestine.  The  imagery  of  Daniel  served  to 
strengthen  the  endurance  of  the  afflicted  Jews 
during  the  fierce  persecutions  of  Antiochus. 
The  expectation  of  Christ's  speedy  return  was  a 
mighty  stimulus  to  activity  on  the  part  of  the 
earliest  Christians,  and  the  extravagant  imagery 
of  Revelation  was  a  fitting  antidote  to  the 
apparently  hopeless  status  of  small  Christian 
groups  when  persecuted  by  the  mighty  power 
of  Rome.  Thus  millennial  hopes  served  to 
interpret  a  wide  range  of  experience,  the  details 
of  the  imagery  varying  from  time  to  time 
according  to  the  demands  of  specific  individuals 
in  different  situations. 

Similarly  the  value  which  an  individual  today 
attaches  to  any  form  of  ancient  hope  depends 
ultimately  upon  its  functional  significance  in 
modern  times.  The  mere  passage  of  time  has 
rendered  large  portions  of  the  biblical  imagery 
untenable   for   moderns.     The    restoration   of 


228  The  Millennial  Hope 

nomadic  ethical  ideals  among  the  Hebrews,  the 
return  of  the  dispersed  Jews  from  Babylonia  or 
Egypt  to  Palestine,  or  the  destruction  of  the 
Seleucid  Empire  cannot  become  the  center  of 
faith  and  hope  today.  The  return  of  Christ  can 
no  longer  be  expected  during  the  lifetime  of 
certain  of  his  earthly  associates,  nor  can  the 
overthrow  of  the  Roman  Empire  constitute  a 
vital  element  in  the  modern  hope.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  today  no  specific  form  of  biblical  hope 
can  be  exactly  reproduced  with  all  its  original 
details,  which  in  most  instances  were  just  the 
features  giving  it  peculiar  value  to  the  ancients. 
To  be  sure,  one  who  chooses  to  do  so  may 
construct  a  new  form  of  hope  employing 
selected  phrases  and  imagery  from  the  Bible, 
and  such  a  hope  may  have  value  for  its  modern 
creator,  but  it  cannot  be  identified  with  any 
specific  form  of  bibHcal  hope. 

Although  biblical  forms  of  millennial  hope 
are  no  longer  tenable,  the  faith  and  sincerity  of 
the  ancients  who  proposed  these  solutions  for 
the  evils  of  the  world  are  still  both  suggestive 
and  inspiring.  Nor  is  confidence  in  the  vic- 
tory of  righteousness  to  be  abandoned  simply 
because  past  generations  have  failed  to  plot 
accurately   the   devious  itinerary   of   the   tri- 


Modern  Estimate  of  Millennial  Hopes    229 

umphal  procession  down  through  the  ages.  It 
was  a  perfectly  normal  procedure  for  the  wor- 
thies of  old  to  phrase  their  message  as  they  did. 
They  were  but  using  current  language  which 
made  possible  the  concrete  expression  of  their 
own  experiences  and  enabled  them  to  convey  to 
their  contemporaries  vivid  representations  of 
their  faith,  sincerity,  and  consecration.  To 
admit  that  we  of  today  no  longer  find  it  possible 
to  speak  their  language  is  not  to  deny  their  value 
for  our  times.  Indeed,  if  the  interpreters  of 
modern  life  were  to  learn  well  the  lessons  of 
initiative,  diligence,  and  consecration  exempli- 
fied by  the  ancients,  the  contribution  of  biblical 
millennialists  to  present-day  problems  would 
be  far  greater  than  it  ever  can  be  through  any 
mere  parrot-like  appropriation  of  ancient  mil- 
lennial imagery. 

IV 

Since  biblical  hopes  are  incapable  of  being 
literally  reproduced,  shall  moderns  seek  a  solu- 
tion for  the  evils  of  the  present  age  in  a  new 
form  of  millennial  speculation  ?  Or  shall  they 
adopt  outright  a  positively  constructive  poHcy 
of  world-betterment?  In  other  words,  shall 
we  still  look  for  God  to  introduce  a  new  order 


230  The  Millennial  Hope 

by  catastrophic  means  or  shall  we  assume  the 
responsibility  of  bringing  about  our  own  mil- 
lennium, believing  that  God  is  working  in  us 
and  in  our  world  to  will  and  to  work  for  his 
good  pleasure  ? 

The  modern  man  has  various  reasons  for 
doubting  the  validity  of  present-day  recon- 
structions of  millennial  hopes.  In  the  first 
place,  mistrust  is  aroused  by  the  utter  failure 
of  all  past  millennial  programs  to  produce 
promised  results.  Whether  among  Gentiles, 
Jews,  or  Christians,  all  predictions  of  the  end 
of  the  world  have  failed  of  fulfilment.  The 
new  world-year  of  Babylonian  expectations  has 
not  materialized,  the  Persian  hope  of  a  new  age 
is  long  overdue,  and  the  Golden  Age  of  Graeco- 
Roman  fancy  remains  unrealized.  A  similar 
fate  has  overtaken  Hebrew  hopes.  The  older 
prophets  looked  in  vain  for  the  restoration  of 
ideal  nomadic  conditions  in  Palestine.  The 
anticipated  glories  of  the  restored  exiles  as 
pictured  by  later  prophets  came  no  nearer  to 
realization.  The  apocalyptic  visionary  was 
never  privileged  to  see  his  impending  kingdom 
of  heaven  established  upon  earth.  Tragic  dis- 
appointment awaited  those  enthusiastic  Jewish 
nationalists  who  revolted  against  Rome  in  the 


Modern  Estimate  of  Millennial  Hopes    231 

hope  of  bringing  Jehovah  to  their  aid.  As  time 
and  experience  rendered  earher  hopes  untenable 
it  was  a  magnificent  faith  that  prompted  the 
afflicted  Israehtes  to  paint  new  pictures  of 
coming  deHverance.  One  may  well  admire 
their  unbounded  confidence  in  God,  even 
though  they  misjudged  his  intentions  for  the 
future  and  were  slow  to  learn  from  the  signs  of 
the  times  that  his  purposes  in  history  were  to 
be  worked  out  in  a  much  less  spectacular  man- 
ner than  they  had  frequently  imagined. 

All  early  Christian  millennial  expectations 
have  similarly  miscarried.  Paul  was  disap- 
pointed in  his  hope  of  living  to  see  the  day  of 
the  Lord,  nor  did  the  promised  end  of  the  world 
speedily  arrive  to  relieve  his  converts  of  their 
distresses.  Christians  of  Mark's  day  were 
equally  overzealous  in  supposing  that  Christ 
would  return  in  apocalyptic  glory  while  certain 
of  his  earthly  companions  were  still  alive. 
Similarly  fanciful  were  the  well-meant  efforts 
of  the  writer  of  Revelation  to  cheer  persecuted 
Christians  with  the  promise  of  Christ's  speedy 
coming  to  destroy  the  oppressor  and  reward  the 
faithful.  In  the  course  of  the  years  Chris- 
tians did  possess  themselves  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean world,  triumphing  completely  over  their 


232  The  Millennial  Hope 

heathen  persecutors,  but  in  a  very  different  man- 
ner from  that  anticipated  by  the  author  of  Rev- 
elation. There  is  something  grand  about  these 
early  sufferers'  faith  in  the  triumph  of  their 
cause,  even  though  they  would  have  impa- 
tiently forced  the  issue  instead  of  awaiting  the 
gradual  evolution  of  the  divine  purposes  as 
disclosed  in  subsequent  history. 

The  millennial  speculations  of  later  Christian 
history  only  increase  one's  distrust  of  all 
attempts  to  determine  times  and  seasons,  or  to 
secure  permanent  relief  by  catastrophic  means. 
History  always  denies  the  expectation  of  the 
end,  and  all  fresh  predictions  are  automatically 
invahdated  when  the  hour  for  their  fulfilment 
arrives.  Whether  it  is  an  Irenaeus,  an  Augus- 
tine, or  any  of  their  successors  who  turns 
prophet,  the  result  is  always  the  same.  And 
yet  even  today  some  Christians  continue  to 
pursue  the  millennial  mirage,  vainly  looking 
for  a  catastrophic  end  of  the  world  instead  of 
throwing  themselves  heart  and  soul  into  the 
task  of  improving  the  existing  order,  whose 
permanence  is  attested  by  centuries  of  dis- 
appointed millennial  hopes. 

A  second  item  discrediting  millennial  expec- 
tations in  the  eyes  of  the  modern  world  is  the 


Modern  Estimate  of  Millennial  Hopes    233 

fanciful  content  of  these  hopes.  As  children 
deHght  in  fairy  stories  and  draw  no  sharp 
distinction  between  fact  and  fancy,  so  primitive 
peoples  gave  free  reign  to  their  imagination  as 
they  depicted  ideal  conditions  in  the  distant 
past  or  the  glories  of  a  new  age  yet  to  come. 
It  is  not  surprising  that  Gentiles,  Jews,  and 
early  Christians  in  the  ancient  world  all 
resorted  to  fancy  as  the  chief  means  of  giving 
definite  and  attractive  form  to  their  future 
hopes.  In  those  days  elevated  emotion  and 
pious  imagination  were  standard  instruments 
for  measuring  religious  knowledge  whether  of 
the  past  or  of  the  future.  But  times  have 
changed.  Today  religious  fancy  must  submit 
to  the  factual  restraints  of  scientific  sanity  if  it 
would  not  become  discredited  among  thought- 
ful people.  However  interesting  these  fancies 
may  be  as  products  of  ardent  faith,  they  can  no 
longer  be  accepted  as  actual  facts. 

In  millennial  expectations,  however,  unre- 
strained fancy  plays  a  leading  role.  The 
ancient  prophets  depicted  the  speedy  advent  of 
an  imaginary  day  of  Jehovah  as  the  hour  of  the 
nation's  doom.  In  post-exilic  times  a  new 
series  of  images  was  created  to  visuaHze  the 
anticipated  joys  of  the  restored  captives.     The 


234  The  Millennial  Hope 

materials  for  these  pictures  were  either  appro- 
priated from  current  mythology  or  were  pro- 
duced by  new  flights  of  the  imagination.  The 
same  process  was  continued  by  the  apocalyptic 
writers.  Often  stimulated  by  highly  wrought 
emotions,  their  fancy  soared  to  new  heights, 
painting  for  itself  magnificent  pictures  of 
heaven  and  of  the  heavenly  kingdom  soon  to  be 
established  upon  earth.  The  early  Christian 
seer  follows  in  the  footsteps  of  his  Jewish  pred- 
ecessor, except  that  he  strives  to  attain  new 
visions  of  a  more  gorgeous  character.  These 
ancient  efforts  to  portray  the  future  are  not 
hampered  by  any  restraints  of  a  modern  type. 
Apparently  it  never  occurs  to  the  seer  to  ask 
whether  the  hard  facts  of  history  furnish  war- 
rant for  his  conclusions.  Indeed,  the  farther 
his  imagery  transcends  the  known  facts  of 
actual  experience,  the  stronger  is  its  appeal  to 
the  imagination  of  himself  and  his  contempo- 
raries. 

The  same  unrestrained  exercise  of  fancy 
characterizes  all  later  millennial  speculation. 
The  mythical  creations  of  earlier  days  are  freely 
reproduced  and  supplemented  by  new  flights 
of  the  imagination.  These  fancied  pictures  are 
boldly  exhibited  as  reaHzable  fact,  and  modern 


Modern  Estimate  of  Millennial  Hopes    235 

men  are  asked  to  portray  the  kingdom  of  God 
in  the  extravagant  imagery  of  primitive  times. 
Apparently  the  failure  of  past  hopes  never 
wakens  a  suspicion  that  the  fabric  which  new 
fancy  creates  will  one  day  similarly  vanish  into 
thin  air.  In  the  meantime  one  depicts  in  truly 
mythological  fashion  the  coming  of  a  day  when 
God,  Christ,  and  the  angels  will  appear  upon 
earth  as  realistically  as  ever  Homer's  gods 
descended  from  Mount  Olympus.  And  the 
delights  of  the  Elysian  fields  were  never  more 
vividly  portrayed  than  are  the  joys  of  the  right- 
eous on  the  day  of  admission  to  their  luxurious 
apartments  in  the  New  Jerusalem  of  millennial 
expectation. 

A  third  objection  to  millennial  fancies  as 
advocated  by  modern  premillenarianism  arises 
from  their  inherent  pessimism.  The  story  of 
man's  career  upon  earth  is  viewed  as  one  long 
process  of  deterioration  from  the  days  of  Adam 
until  the  day  of  final  doom.  Life's  ills  seem 
altogether  too  gigantic  to  be  overcome  by  mere 
human  endeavor,  and  even  with  such  divine 
aid  as  mankind  has  experienced  no  gradual 
process  of  reform  can  issue  successfully.  Each 
hour  in  the  world's  history  must  be  darker  than 
the  one  that  came  before,  nor  can  any  power. 


236  The  Millennial  Hope 

human  or  divine,  dispel  this  gathering  gloom. 
Although  God  is  supposed  to  have  intervened 
to  help  humanity  at  certain  times  in  the  past, 
such  occurrences  have  been  sporadic  and  anti- 
climactic.  The  course  of  history  quickly  de- 
scended to  lower  levels  and  the  world  as  a  whole 
has  been  growing  constantly  worse. 

Even  religion  does  not  escape  the  premil- 
lenarian's  pessimism.  He  scorns  all  efforts 
made  in  the  name  of  religion  to  correct  the  ills 
of  society.  Society  must  not  be  redeemed;  it 
must  be  damned.  The  ban  is  also  placed  upon 
all  intellectual  efforts  to  become  more  accurately 
acquainted  with  the  universe  as  a  means  of 
reading  God's  thoughts  after  him.  The  quin- 
tessence of  religion  is  made  to  consist  in  assent 
to  the  fanciful  premillennial  program,  and  those 
Christians  who  refuse  such  assent  are  assigned 
to  the  outer  court,  where  they  are  more  or  less 
under  the  dominion  of  Satan.  In  Tact  the 
church  itself  is  beHeved  to  be  growing  constantly 
more  worldly  as  the  present  age  draws  to  a 
close.  To  inaugurate  any  program  of  social 
betterment  or  to  set  the  church  as  a  whole  upon 
an  upward  course  would  be  to  thwart  the  divine 
purposes  and  to  delay  the  advent  of  Christ. 
Both  the  world  and  the  church  must  grow 


Modern  Estimate  of  Millennial  Hopes    237 

constantly  worse  in  order  to  meet  premillennial 
ideals.  Viewed  from  this  standpoint,  the  essen- 
tial function  of  religion  is  to  insure  for  a  few 
select  individuals  a  way  of  escape  from  the 
ultimate  wrack  and  ruin  to  which  the  world  is 
destined. 

This  pessimistic  outlook  upon  life  is  a  violent 
anachronism  in  the  modern  world.  It  belongs 
to  a  prescientific  age  when  primitive  thinking 
derived  the  imagery  for  its  expression  from  a 
purely  mythological  interpretation  of  the  uni- 
verse. Mythology  always  glorifies  the  past  or 
the  future  at  the  expense  of  the  present,  and  it 
was  to  mythology  that  the  ancient  man  com- 
monly turned  for  his  philosophy  of  history  and 
of  life.  But  today,  in  all  circles  dominated  by 
the  modern  scientific  spirit,  a  different  state  of 
affairs  prevails.  The  course  of  world-history 
is  interpreted  in  terms  of  carefully  observed 
facts  revealing  an  evolutionary  process  of  de- 
velopment, and  in  the  light  of  this  new  knowl- 
edge premillennial  pessimism  is  no  longer 
tenable. 

To  be  more  specific,  it  is  sheer  nonsense  to 

talk  dolefully  about  the  gradual  deterioration 

\  of  society  to   a   student  of   history   familiar 

^with  the  actual  course  of  human  development 


238  The  Millennial  Hope 

from  prehistoric  times  down  to  the  present. 
This  course  of  history  exhibits  one  long  process 

^  of  evolving  struggle  by  which  humanity  as  a 
whole  rises  constantly  higher  in  the  scale  of 

■  civilization  and  attainment,  bettering  its  con- 
dition from  time  to  time  through  its  greater 
skill  and  industry.  Viewed  in  the  long  per- 
spective of  the  ages,  man's  career  has  been  one 
of  actual  ascent.  Instead  of  growing  worse,  the 
world  is  found  to  be  growing  constantly  better. 
The  historian's  conviction  of  cosmic  progress 
and  permanence  is  further  substantiated  by 
the  findings  of  the  physical  scientist.  He  too 
discovers  a  gradual  process  in  the  course  of  the 
world's  development  extending  over  countless 
millenniums,  and  the  laws  of  his  science  enable 
him  to  predict  the  continuance  of  the  physical 
universe  for  still  millions  of  years.  Scientific 
knowledge  leaves  no  room  for  the  retention  of 
primitive  mythical  fancies  regarding  a  cata- 
clysmic end  of  the  world. 

Since  history  and  science  show  that  better- 
ment is  always  the  result  of  achievement,  man 
learns  to  surmise  that  evils  still  unconquered 
are  to  be  eliminated  by  strenuous  effort  and 
gradual  reform  rather  than  by  the  catastrophic 
intervention  of  Deity.     Modern  scientific  think- 


Modern  Estimate  of  Millennial  Hopes    239 

ing  is  fundamentally  optimistic  in  its  outlook 
upon  the  world's  future.  It  neither  ignores  the 
ills  of  Hfe  nor  minimizes  their  severity.  But 
it  hopefully  proceeds  to  effect  their  elimination. 
Instead  of  assuming  an  attitude  of  passive  sub- 
mission awaiting  a  day  when  all  evil  is  to  be 
destroyed  by  a  cosmic  catastrophe,  it  takes 
active  measures  to  accompHsh  present  relief. 
Disease  is  to  be  cured  or  prevented  by  the 
physician's  skill,  society's  ills  are  to  be  remedied 
by  education  and  legislation,  and  international 
disasters  are  to  be  averted  by  estabHshing  new 
standards  and  new  methods  for  deahng  with 
the  problems  involved.  In  short,  the  ills  of 
life  are  to  be  cured  by  a  gradual  process  of 
remedial  treatment  rather  than  by  sudden 
annihilation. 

The  function  of  religion  in  this  program  is 
also  remedial.  Its  aim  is  not  simply  to  extri- 
cate a  few  individual  souls  from  the  debris  of  a 
perishing  world.  The  more  positive  and  com- 
prehensive task  of  religion,  as  scientifically 
understood,  is  to  stimulate  successive  genera- 
tions throughout  unnumbered  centuries  to  aim 
at  the  highest  moral  and  spiritual  attainment 
of  which  men  in  all  future  ages  may  find  them- 
selves capable.     This  outlook  demands  much 


240  The  Millennial  Hope 

strenuous  endeavor  and  may  entail  many 
discouragements  ere  the  gigantic  task  is  accom- 
plished, but  it  leaves  no  room  for  pessimism  of 
the  premillennial  type. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  retention  of  a  vain 
hope  of  catastrophic  world-renewal  begets  indif- 
ference, if  not  actual  hostility,  toward  all  reme- 
dial agencies  designed  to  improve  the  present 
order  of  existence  by  a  gradual  process  of  inner 
reform.  The  premillennialist  will  labor  strenu- 
ously to  rescue  individual  souls,  but  he  has  no 
lively  interest  in  removing  the  causes  that  lead 
souls  astray,  nor  has  he  any  faith  in  the  efficacy 
of  preventive  measures.  Were  he  to  recognize 
their  value  or  success,  his  fond  conviction  that 
the  world  is  doomed  to  grow  constantly  worse 
would  have  to  be  abandoned.  He  therefore 
gives  himself  to  the  temporary  duty  of  refitting 
a  few  derelicts  for  further  voyaging  upon  the  sea 
of  life,  and  refuses  to  participate  in  the  larger 
and  more  important  work  of  so  reforming  con- 
ditions of  navigation  upon  life's  ocean  that  the 
causes  of  shipwreck  will  be  reduced  to  a  mini- 
mum, if  not  indeed  ultimately  eliminated. 

The  pessimistic  philosophy  of  life  which 
underlies  premillennial  teaching  is  especially 
to  be  deplored  at  the  present  time.     It  is  always 


Modern  Estimate  of  Millennial  Hopes    241 

a  sad  day  for  humanity  when  any  group  of 
religious  people  spurns,  as  premillennialists  are 
in  principle  compelled  to  do,  all  serious  effort 
to  secure  the  betterment  of  the  world  by  means 
of  popular  education,  social  reforms,  remedial 
legislation,  or  other  agencies  for  improving 
undesirable  conditions  of  life  and  attaining 
higher  ideals  of  social  righteousness.  But  this 
negative  attitude  becomes  peculiarly  vicious 
in  the  present  hour  of  the  world's  need,  when 
the  call  to  duty  is  no  longer  merely  local,  but 
nation-wide  and  international. 


SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

^  GENERAL 

C.    A.    Beckwith.     Article    "Millennium,"    New    Schaff- 

Herzog  Religious  Encyclopedia,  VII  (New  York,  1910), 

374-78. 
\W.     Adams    Brown.     Article     "Millennium,"     Hastings' 

Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  III  (New  York,  1900),  370-73. 
A.  Harnack.    Article  "Millennium,"  Encyclopaedia  Britan- 

nica,  nth  ed.,  XVIII,  461-63. 
J.    A.    MacCulloch.    Article    "Eschatology,"    Hastings' 

Encyclopedia  of  Religion  and  Ethics,  V  (New  York, 

1914),  373-91;   also  "Ages  of  the  World"  by  various 

authors,  ibid.,  I,  183-210. 
Semisch .    Article  ' '  Chiliasmus , ' '  Realencyklopadie  fiir  prote- 

stantische  Theologie   und  Kirche,  III   (Leipzig,  1897), 

805-17. 
H.  Corrodi.    Kritische  Geschichte  des  Chiliasmus,  2.  Aufl., 

4  Bde.  (Zurich,  1794). 
Leon  Gry.    Le  millenarisme  dans  ses  origines  et  son  develop- 

pement  (Paris,  1904). 
A.   Chiapelli.    Le  idee  millenarie  dei  Christiani  (Napoli, 

1888). 

GENTILE   HOPES 

J.  H.  Breasted.  "The  Earliest  Social  Prophet,"  American 
Journal  of  Theology,  XIV  (1910),  1 14-16. 

W.  O.  E.  Oesterley.  Evolution  of  the  Messianic  Idea:  A 
Study  in  Comparative  Religion  (London,  1908). 

A.  J.  Carnoy.  "Iranian,"  The  Mythology  of  All  Races,  VI 
(Boston,  1917),  253-351. 

242 


Selected  Bibliography  243 

L,  H.  Mills.     Avesta  Eschatology  Compared  with  the  Books 

of  Daniel  and  Revelations  (Chicago,  1908). 
K.  F.  Smith.     *'Ages  of  the  World  (Greek  and  Roman)," 

Hastings'  Encyclopedia  of  Religion  and  Ethics,  I  (New 

York,  1913),  192-200. 
N.  Soderblom.     La  Vie  future  d'apres  le  mazdeisme  (Paris, 

1901). 
E.  Boklen.     Die  V erwandtschaft  der  jiidisch-christlichen  mit 

der  parsischen  Eschatologie  (Gottingen,  1902). 

HEBREW  AND  JEWISH  HOPES 

E.  C.  A.  Riehm.    Messianic  Prophecy,  2d  ed.  (New  York^ 

1891). 
H.  P.  Smith.     The  Religion  of  Israel  (New  York,  1914). 
J.  P.  Peters.     The  Religion  of  the  Hebrews  (Boston,  1914). 
B.  Duhm.     The  Ever-coming  Kingdom  of  God   (London, 

1911). 
H.    Gressmann.    Der    Ursprung   der   israelitisch-jiidischen 

Eschatologie  (Gottingen,  1905). 
J.  H.  A.  Hart.     The  Hope  of  Catholic k  Judaism  (Oxford, 

1910). 

F.  C.  Porter.     The  Messages  of  the  Apocalyptical  Writers 

(New  York,  1909). 
F.  C.  Burkitt.    Jewish  and  Christian  Apocalypses  (London, 

1914). 
S.   R.   Driver.     The   Book   of  Daniel   [Cambridge   Bible] 

(Cambridge,  1900). 
R.  H.  Charles.     The  Book  of  Daniel  [New  Century  Bible] 

(New  York  [n.d.]). 
A.  A.  Bevan.    A  Short  Commentary  on  the  Book  of  Daniel 

(Cambridge,  1892). 
J.  D.  Prince.     A  Critical  Commentary  on  the  Book  of  Daniel 

(Leipzig,  1899). 
K.  Marti.    Das  Buch  Daniel  (Tubingen,  1901). 


244  The  Millennial  Hope 

R.  H.  Charles.  The  Book  of  Enoch  (London:  Society  for 
the  Promotion  of  Christian  Knowledge,  191 7);  The 
Apocalypse  of  Baruch  {idem);  The  Testaments  of  the 
Twelve  Patriarchs  {idem). 

W.  J.  Ferrar.     The  Assumption  of  Moses  {idem). 

G.  H.  Box.     The  Ezra-Apocalypse  (London,  1912). 

R.  H.  Charles.  A  Critical  History  of  the  Doctrine  of  a 
Future  Life  in  Israel,  in  Judaism  and  in  Christianity, 
2d  ed.  (New  York,  1913). 

E.  Schiirer.    History  of  the  Jewish  People  in  the  Time  of 

Jesus  Christ  (New  York,  1891),  Div.  II,  Vol.  II,  pp. 

126-87. 
M.  J.  Lagrange.    Le  Messianisme  chez  les  Juifs  (Paris, 

1909). 
P.    Volz.    Jildische    Eschatologie    von    Daniel    bis    Akiba 

(Tubingen,  1903). 

F.  Weber.    Jildische  Theologie  auf  Grund  des  Talmud  und 

verwandter  Schriften  (Leipzig,  1897),  pp.  336-405. 

ANCIENT  CHRISTIAN  HOPES 

E.  F.  Scott.     The  Kingdom  and  the  Messiah  (New  York, 

1911). 
S.  Mathews.     The  Messianic  Hope  in  the  New  Testament 

(Chicago,  1905). 
L.  A.  Muirhead.     The  Eschatology  of  Jesus  (New  York, 

1904). 
H.  B.  Sharman.     The  Teaching  of  Jesus  about  the  Future, 

According  to  the  Synoptic  Gospels  (Chicago,  1909). 
H.  A,  A.  Kennedy.     Saint  Paul's  Conception  of  the  Last 

Things  (New  York,  1904). 
S.  J.  Case.     The  Book  of  Revelation,  an  outline  Bible-study 

course  of  the  American  Institute  of  Sacred  Literature, 

Hyde  Park,  Chicago,  Illinois;  reprinted  from  the  Biblical 

World, L,  (1917),  192-200,  257-64,321-82,  328-90. 


Selected  Bibliography  245 

C.  A.  Scott.     The  Book  of  Revelation  [New  Century  Bible] 

(New  York,  1902). 
J.  T.  Dean.     The  Book  of  Revelation  [Handbooks  for  Bible 

Classes  and  Private  Students]  (New  York,  191 5). 
H.  B.  Swete.     The  Apocalypse  of  Saint  John:    The  Greek 

Text  with  Ifitroduction,  Notes  and  Indices,  3d  ed.  (New 

York,  1909). 
J.  Moffatt.     "The  Book  of  Revelation,"  Expositor's  Greek 

Testament,  V  (New  York,  1910),  279-494. 
W.  Bousset.     Die  Ofenbarung  Johannis  (Gottingen,  1906); 

The  Antichrist  Legend:    A   Chapter  in  Christian  and 

Jewish  Folklore  (London,  1896);  article  "Antichrist" 

in    Hastings'    Encyclopedia    of   Religion    and   Ethics, 

I  (New  York,  1913),  578-81. 
F.  C.  Grant.     "The  Eschatology  of  the  Second  Century," 

American  Journal  of  Theology,  XXI  (1917),  193-211. 
L.     Atzberger.     Geschichte    der     christlichen    Eschatologie 

inner halb  der  vornicdnischen  Zeit  (Freiburg,  1896). 
P.  Schaff.    History  of  the  Christian  Church,  II  (New  York, 

1892),  613-20. 

E.  Wadstein.    Die  eschatologische  Ideengruppe  Antichrist, 

Weltsabbat,  Weltende  und  Weltgericht  (Leipzig,   1896) 
[Middle  Ages]. 

MILLENARIAN   SECTS 

Count  Liitzow.  Bohemia;  an  Historical  Sketch  (London, 
1896);  Life  and  Times  of  John  Hus  (idem,  1909). 

K.  Kautsky.  Communism  in  Central  Europe  in  the  Time  of 
the  Reformation  (London,  1897),  pp.  216-93  [Ana- 
baptists in  Miinster]. 

C.  Burrage.  "The  Fifth  Monarchy  Insurrections,"  English 
Historical  Review,  XXV  (1910),  722-47. 

F.  W.  Evans.     Compendium  of  the  Origin,  History,  etc.,  of 

the  United  Society  of  Believers  in  Chris fs  Second  Appear- 
ing (New  York,  1853)  [Shakers]. 


246  The  Millennial  Hope 

E.  IMiller.  History  and  Doctrines  of  Irvingism,  2  vols. 
(London,  1878). 

W.  B.  Neatby.  A  History  of  the  Plymouth  Brethren  (Lon- 
don, 1902). 

W.  A.  Linn.  The  Story  of  the  Mormons  from  the  Date  of 
Their  Origin  to  the  Year  igoi  (New  York,  1902). 

I.  C.  Wellcome.  History  of  the  Second  Advent  Message  and 
Mission,  Doctrine  and  People  (Yarmouth,  Maine, 
1874)  [Adventists]. 

J.  N.  Loughborough.  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Seventh  Day 
Adventists  (Battle  Creek,  Michigan,  1892). 

C.  Hoffmann.  Mein  Weg  nach  Jerusalem.  2  Bde.  (Stutt- 
gart, 1881-84). 

E.  Kalb.  Kirchen  und  Sekten  der  Gegenwart,  2.  Aufl.  (Stutt- 
gart, 1907). 

C.  T.  Russell.  The  Divine  Plan  of  the  Ages  (Allegheny, 
1886);  The  Time  Is  at  Hand  (1889);  Thy  Kingdom 
Come  (1891);  The  Day  of  Vengeance  (1897);  The  At- 
One-Ment  between  God  and  Man  (1899);  The  New 
Creation  (1904)  ["Millennial  Dawn"]. 

PREMILLENARIANISM 

J.  A.  Seiss.  The  Last  Times  (Philadelphia,  1878);  Voices 
from  Babylon,  or  the  Records  of  Daniel  the  Prophet 
{idem,  1879). 

Premillennial  Essays  of  the  Prophetic  Conference  (Chicago, 

1879). 
S.  H.  Kellog.     "Premillenarianism:    Its  Relation  to  Doc- 
trine and  Practice,"  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  XLV  (1888), 

234-74. 
S.  J.  Andrews.     Christianity  and  Anti-Christianity  in  Their 

Final  Conflict  (New  York,  1890). 

W.  E.  Blackstone.    Jesus  Is  Coming  (New  York,  1878, 

19083). 


Selected  Bibliography  247 

A.  C.   Gaebelein.     The  Harmony  of  the  Prophetic  Word 

(New  York,  1907). 
J.  M.  Gray.    Satan  and  the  Saints,  or  The  Present  Darkness 

and  the  Coming  Light  (New  York,  1909). 
J.  F.  Silver.     The  Lord's  Return  (New  York,  1914). 
The  Coming  and  Kingdom  of  Christ   (New  York,    191 5) 

[Addresses  delivered  at  the  International  Conference 

held  in  Chicago  in  1914]. 

REFUTATION   OF  PREMILLENARIANISM 

Daniel  Whitby.     Treatise  of  Traditions,  2  parts  (London, 

1688  f.). 
David  Brown.     Christ's  Second  Coming;    Will  It  Be  Pre- 

millenarian?     6th  ed.  (Edinburgh,  1867). 

B.  C.    Young.    Short   Arguments   about   the   Millennium 

(London,  1854). 
J.  F.  Berg.     The  Second  Advent  of  Jesus  Not  Premillennial 
(Philadelphia,  1859). 

C.  A.  Briggs.     ''Origin  and  History  of  Premillenarianism," 

Lutheran  Quarterly,  IX  (1879),  207-45. 

E.  L.  Eaton.  The  Millennial  Dawn  Heresy  (New  York, 
1911). 

H.  C.  Sheldon.  Studies  in  Recent  Adventism  (New 
York,  191 5). 

G.  P.  Eckman.  When  Christ  Comes  Again  (New  York, 
1917). 

S.  Mathews.  Will  Christ  Come  Again?  (Chicago,  191 7) 
[A  leaflet  of  the  American  Institute  of  Sacred  Litera- 
ture]. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Adventists,  202 

Ages  of  the  world,  16,  19  f.,  31  ff. 

Allegorical  interpretation,    178  f., 

215  f. 
Alsted,  191 
Amos,  54  ff. 
Anabaptists,  190 

Antichrist,  164  f.,  168,  170,  187  f., 
197,  211  f.,  223 

Antiochus  IV,  Epiphanes,  80,  82, 
84  f .,  86 

Apocalyptic  writings,  81 

Assumption  of  Moses,  93 

Asurbanipal,  14 

Augustine,  179  £f. 

Augustus,  34,  39  f . 

Barcochba,  86,  104  f. 
Barnabas,  157 
Baruch,  94 
Bengel,  J.  A.,  195 
Berosus,  16 

Bohemian  Brethren,  189 
Bronze  Age,  31 

Catholic  Apostolic  church,  198  ff. 
Cerinthus,  178 
Comenius,  189 
Commodian,  168 

Daniel,  Book  of,  81  ff. 

Darbyites,  198  ff. 

David,  52 

Day  of  Jehovah,  55  ff.,  70  f.,  89 

Deluge:    Babylonian,  11;    Greek, 
32  f.;  Hebrew,  51 

Demonic  powers,  23  f.,  98 


Didache,  156 

Dionysius  of  Alexandria,  178  f. 

Domitian,  150 

Elijah,  72 
EUer,  E.,  194  f. 
Elysian  fields,  33  f. 
Enoch,  Book  of,  87 
Epicureanism,  43  f. 

Eschatology:  Babylonian,  116; 
Danielle,  85;  early  Christian, 
135;  of  Enoch,  87  ff.;  Pauline, 
118  ff.;  Persian,  23  f.;  post- 
exilic,  72  ff.;  of  prophets,  68  f.; 
Stoic,  46 

"EvangeHsts,"  204 

Evil,  problem  of,  3  f 

Ezra,  Book  of,  95  f. 

Fifth  Monarchy  Movement,  192  ff. 

Gehenna,  88  f .,  96 

Gnostics,  172 

Golden  Age:  Babylonian,  13  ff.; 
Egyptian,  9;  Greek,  31,  43; 
Persian,  20  ff.;  Roman,  35,  37; 
40 

Hammurabi,  13  f. 
Hermas,  160  f. 
Hesiod,  29  ff.,  54 
Hippolytus,  167  f. 
Hoffmann,  C,  197 
Hoffmann,  M.,  190 

Hopes:  apocalyptic,  80  ff.,  219; 
Babylonian,  10  ff.;  early  Chris- 
tian, 107  ff.;  later  Christian, 
155 ff.;  Danielle,  81  ff.;  Egyptian, 
8  ff.;  of  Gospel  of  John,  136  ff.; 


251 


252 


The  Millennial  Hope 


Hebrew,  48  ff . ;  national,  99  ff . 
Pauline,  118  ff.;  Persian,  18  ff. 
in  I  Pet.,  142;  post-exilic,  70  ff. 
pr^exilic,  53  ff.;  rabbinic,  105  f. 
in  Rev.,  1432.;  Roman,  34  ff. 
in  Synoptic  Gospels,  125  ff. 

Hosea,  57  ff. 
Huss,  John,  187  f. 

Ignatius,  156  f. 
Irenaeus,  163  ff.,  172 
Iron  Age,  31  ff. 
Irvingites,  198  ff. 
Isaiah,  61  ff. 
Ishtar,  12 
Isis,  9  f . 

Jehovah,  anger  of,  49  f . 

Jeremiah,  65  ff. 

Jerusalem:  New,  152  f.;  restora- 
tion of,  74  ff. 

Jesus:  hopes  of,  inf.;  messiah- 
ship  of,  113  ff.,  129  ff.;  miracles 
of,  133;  teaching  of,  132 

Joachim  of  Floris,  185 

John  the  Baptist,  no  f. 

Josephus,  103  f. 

Jubilees,  Book  of,  loi 

Judas  of  Galilee,  108 

Judgment,  25  f.,  91,  96,  152,  162, 
167 

Justin  Martyr,  161  ff. 

Lactantius,  169 
Latter  Day  Saints,  201 

Maccabees,  99 
Marduk,  10  f. 
Merneptah,  9 

Messiah,  77,  89,  91,  94  f.;  apoca- 
lyptic, 97,  no  ff.;  in  Daniel,  85; 
Davidic,  102;    descent  of,  99  f. 

Methodius,  171 

Micah,  59  ff. 


Militz,  187 

Millenarianism:  diversity  in,  2o6f ., 

224  ff.;      function    of,     207  ff., 

226  ff.;  in  Middle  Ages,  184  ff.; 

modern  estimate  of,  224  ff.;    in 

Protestantism,  186  ff. 

Millennium,  92,  151  f. 

Millerites,  202 

Mormons,  201 

Moses,  52 

Mysteries,  41  f. 

Myths:     Babylonian,    10  ff.,    16; 

Egyptian,   8ff.;    Greek,   28  ff.; 

Hebrew,    49;     meaning    of,    4; 

Persian,  18  ff.;  Roman,  34  ff- 

Nepos,  178 
Nero,  148  ff.,  168 
Noah,  51 

Origen,  174  ff. 
Osiris,  9  f . 

Palestine,  transformation  of,  74  ff. 

Papias,  158  f. 

Paradise:  Babylonian,  12;  He- 
brew, so;   Persian,  22 

Persecution  of  Christians,  141  ff., 
162 

I  Peter,  142 

II  Peter,  159  f.,  172 

Philo,  102 

Philosophy:  Babylonian,  15  f-; 
Graeco-Roman,  42  f. 

Plato,  42 

Plymouth  Brethren,  198  ff. 

Poly  carp,  156  f. 

Postmillenarianism,  209 

Premillenarianism:  modern  esti- 
mate of,  229  ff.;  a  perversion  of 
Scripture,  216  ff.;  pessimism  of , 
23s  ff.;  tenets  of,  209  ff.;  valid- 
ity of,  213  ff. 

Prometheus,  30 


Index 


253 


Prophetic  Conference,  204 
Psalms  of  Solomon,  loi 

"Rapture,"  211 

Resurrection.     See  Eschatology 

Revelation,    Book   of,    6,    143  ff., 

178  f. 
Rome,  fall  of,  95  f.,  150  f. 
Ronsdorf  Sect,  194  f. 
Russell,  C.  T.,  203 

Savior,  11,  24,  39  f. 

Schonherr,  197 

Second  Advent,  date  of,  150, 157  f., 

161  f.,  166  f.,  169,  186,  188,  192, 

195  fi.,  198,  202  f. 
Secrets  of  Enoch,  92 
Seneca,  46 
Shakers,  196 

SibylUne  books,  37,  100,  169  f. 
Silver  Age,  3 1 


"666,"  149,  164,  222  f. 
Smith,  Joseph,  201 
Solomon,  52 
Son  of  Man,  83,  91 
Soshyans,  24 
Stoicism,  44  flf.,  67 

Taborites,  188  f. 
TertuUian,  165  flf. 
Testament  XII,  99 
Titans,  28 

Virgil,  36  ff. 

World-weeks,  90 
World-year,  16  f.,  42  f. 

Yima,  20  ff. 

Zephaniah,  65 
Zerubbabel,  79 
Zoroaster,  23,  27 


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